Runaway Love
by Hakimu
Summary: Ed gets cold feet on his wedding day and runs away with Al, leaving a heartbroken Winry behind. As runaways, the duo encounter various people who teach them the meaning of love and family...
1. Escape

**Runaway Love**

Written by: Hakimu

Rating: K+ (for language and mild sexual references)

Series: _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_

Setting: August 1917 (3 years after the events of _Brotherhood_) in the countries of Amestris and Xing

Genres: Family, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Drama, Romance, Adventure

Summary: _Ed gets cold feet on his wedding day and runs away with Al, leaving a heartbroken Winry behind. As runaways, the duo encounter various people who teach them the meaning of love and family... and the brothers realize what it will take to form their own family._

* * *

><p>"That's not how you wear a tie, Brother."<p>

Edward was standing in front of a full body mirror, attempting to put on a pure white tie, one that matched his pure white suit. He'd never worn one before, so he was a loss of how to put one on. He stopped his progress as he instantly recognized the voice speaking as that of his younger brother, Alphonse. "Well, do _you_ know how to put on a tie?" he retorted, not looking up from his work.

Alphonse gestured down to his own tie, bright red and tied neatly around his neck."Obviously. Here, I'll help you with yours." Al closed the door behind him softly. He took the tie from his eighteen-year-old brother and tied it gently around his neck. He then stepped back to get a look at his brother. "This is so unreal, Brother. It seems as if only yesterday I got my body back. Now, you're getting married." He cleared his throat. "I have to be honest with you… I never would have pictured you as the type to settle down and get married."

Ed gave a soft, nervous laugh. "I never pictured myself getting married, either. It's just... not _me_."

His younger brother looked at him with confusion, blinking his dark golden eyes dazedly. "Brother... what are you saying?" Edward still did not meet his brother's gaze, but rather walked over to a chair by the sealed window in the room and sat down, clutching his face in his hands. Strands of his brilliant blonde hair that weren't tied back into Ed's trademark low braid fell over his hands.

"I'm having second thoughts about this, Al."

Al gasped, covered his mouth, and took a step towards Ed. "Brother! You can't be serious! You'd be hurting Winry! You can't!"

"I know, Al!" Ed snapped. He pursed his lips and lowered his voice as he continued with his confession. "I don't want to hurt her. But I know that if I actually _do_ do this, I'll still be hurting her because I won't be the husband she expects and deserves. So I have to do this.."

The groom-to-be got up and stood to look out of the closed window. The morning sun shined brightly on his white wedding suit, making it seem as if he was glowing. "I'm sorry Al, but I'm leaving. I really can't do this. Tell Winry that's it's nothing personal... and that I still love her."

"But Brother!" yelled Al, his maturing voice cracking with fear. "Where will you go? You're leaving behind your family!"

"I dunno, I'll go live in Central or something. I have enough money to get by; my years in the military earned me a lot of cash."

"Ed, that money won't last you forever. And you can't renew your State Alchemist title because you can't perform alchemy anymore!"

"Stop worrying about me, Al. I'll be okay. I'm still going to leave no matter what you say." Edward turned back to face his brother, who was wearing a sad and pain-filled face. "Don't look so sad, Al. I'll keep in touch with everyone. Unless... you all hate me after doing this..."

Not looking at his brother, Ed stood up and lowered the window in the room. Once the window was up, he grabbed the top and slid his legs - one real, one automail - through the open space. Before he could leave, Alphonse grabbed his right arm, which was now flesh and blood thanks to Al's own efforts. "Brother, I can never hate you, no matter what you do. But shouldn't you at least tell Winry _yourself _before you do this?"

Ed simply shook his head no, flinging his golden bangs back and forth. "I couldn't bear it. Telling you was had enough. Now can you let me go?"

"No," answered Al simply.

"Then I'm going to have to make you let go. C'mon, Al, I don't want to hurt you."

"Brother, the reason I won't let go is because I want to come with you." At this declaration, Edward turned to face his brother in disbelief. Before Ed could object, Alphonse continued speaking. "I'm your younger brother, and I will support your choices no matter how stupid they might be. Besides, _someone _has to look after you." Alphonse coughed a little and mumbled, "I was certain after today that would be a job left to Winry... but..."

Al was cut off when his brother wrapped him in a quick hug, causing him to gasp in surprise. Edward isn't a very affectionate person; it takes a lot to get a hug out of him. "Thanks, Brother. I'm glad you have my back. But aren't you worried about Winry and Granny being angry with you for leaving them as well?"

" I'm more worried for your sake."

Edward pursed his lips in thought and spun back around to face the open window. "Well, shall we go then? Before we are caught?"

"What!" Alphonse crossed his arms angrily. "Don't we need clothes and stuff?"

Edward scratched his head. 'Riiiiiiiiiiight," he dragged out.

"...and you wanted to do this on your own?" said Al teasingly.

"Shut up!"

* * *

><p>Young, blonde and beautiful Winry Rockbell sat in the back of the car her granny rented, fighting back tears. Three hours ago, she was supposed to be marrying her best friend. Three hours ago, she was supposed to be Winry Elric. But no. Edward had to go off and be his idiot self and not show up at all.<p>

In addition to Ed, his younger brother did not show up to the wedding either. Winry suspected that they were in this together, whatever "it" may be. The young woman wasn't sure what she should be: furious or depressed. A single tear slid down her cheek, ruining her bridal makeup.

"Now, Winry, please don't cry. You know those boys; they can never stay out of trouble. It's probably not their fault their late," her grandmother Pinako said matter-of-factly. "They've known you all of their lives. Would they really leave you like this?"

The blonde bride thought of the darker days, when Ed still had an automail arm and Alphonse didn't have a body. The days where they went off journeying to search for their bodies. The days where they never called her, unless it was for automail repairs. "Yes."

"If that's what you think, then why did you choose to marry one of them?" Winry gazed out of the window as the town of Resembool scrolled through her window. After all of this time, she still did not know the answer to that question.

When she arrived at her home and workplace, all she wanted to do was run upstairs and cry. How ironic: Edward hated when she cried, and now it was all fault she was doing it. Winry wished he could see her cry. Maybe he'd feel guilty about what he did.

However, before the deserted bride could fully cry away her problems, she decided to check Ed's room. She still had an ounce of hope in her system. Maybe he overslept_?_ Retaining this thought, she rushed into Ed's room. She fought hard to restrict her tears when she saw that his bed was empty and that all of his stuff was gone. _So he did leave her._ She then ran to Al's room to discover that his belongings were gone as well. _Of course, those two are always keeping secrets._

By this point, Winry had succumbed to tears. They slowly crawled down he cheeks as she ran into her room and face planted onto her bed. As she sobbed, she felt something crunch beneath the whites of her wedding dress. She shuffled a bit before removing a folded piece of parchment. She fumbled with the tiny folding until it opened. Right away, the neat, large and cursive handwriting told her that this was something written by Alphonse.

_Dear Winry,_

_Ed's going to kill me if he finds out that I've written this, but here goes. If you are reading this, you're probably really upset that your special day was ruined. For that, I'm very sorry. I'm a little upset, too; I was excited to see you and Brother get married. You see, the only reason Brother backed out is because he has commitment issues. It's not because of you, so don't you think that for a second. You know how Ed can be. The idea of marriage scares him a lot. I guess he felt kind of rushed. You guys are only eighteen, after all. You have time to try this again, right? _

_Anyway, I tried to talk him out of running away, but that didn't work. So, I decided to run away with him. Someone has to take care of him, right? We won't be gone forever, though. No matter how long it takes, I'll bring Brother home to you and Granny. I won't come back without him, either. Remember, whenever Brother and I leave home together, we return together. That's a promise Ed and I made when we first set out to restore our bodies many years ago. And now, it is a promise between you and I. I promise, I'll come home with Brother. We won't leave you behind. _

_With love, Alphonse Elric_

As she read the letter, Winry had to keep moving the paper so that her tears would not blur Al's writing. She was still angry with Ed, of course, but Alphonse had eased much of Winry's anger. Just like when they were kids.

Nothing has changed.

* * *

><p>The Elric brothers sat on a train headed to an unknown location. Well, unknown to Ed, at least. He had asked Al to buy two train tickets, and when the younger boy asked where to, Ed responded with "surprise me". Al, seeing some kind of opportunity, decided to buy tickets to Dublith. He was planning on visiting their ld alchemy and martial arts instructor, whom the boys have not seen since the day Alphonse got his body back. Al knew that if anyone could set Ed straight, it would be their teacher, Izumi Curtis.<p>

The boys both loved and feared Izumi. Even though she thought of the boys as her own children, she was very strict with them. Her punishments were typically physical abuse, and even though the Elric brothers were expert fighters, Izumi was one of the few people they refused to hurt in return. Their teacher was also the only person who understood their troubles, for she also attempted alchemy's greatest taboo in addition to the brothers: she attempted human transmutation. Whereas the boys tried to revive their dead mother, she tried to revive her dead baby, losing some of her vital organs as a result.

Alphonse glanced out of the windows and through the trees to see the setting sun casting an orange glow over the bustling down of Dublith. Her reached over and shook his older brother, who was peacefully napping at his side.

"Mmmm, Al, just a little bit longer?" moaned Ed. "I'm exhausted."

"Brother, that excuse only worked when you rested for my body as well as yours. But now that I can rest for my own body, your extra hours of sleep are not needed. So get up! We're almost there! Ugh, you're so lazy!" Alphonse gently hit his brother until Edward sat up.

Edward wiped his eyes and glanced sleepily out of the window. Once he recognized the town, his eyes opened wide as he realized the city they were entering. "What the hell, Al!" he screamed, causing everyone on the train to stare at the pair.

Alphonse blushed a little at the attention and slunk down into his seat. "No need to yell, Ed," he whispered.

"Why are we going to Dublith! Do you _want_ us to run into teacher! Do you _want _us to get our asses kicked!"

"Brother, please. She hasn't seen us since the day I got my body back. You know, when my hair was long and my body looked like a skeleton?"

Ed folded his arms and turned his head away childishly. "Whatever. She's going to kill me for running away! She's going to beat me to a pulp! Is that what you want, Al? To see your older brother kicked around? You're sick."

"Brother, please. Did you even invite Teacher to the wedding? You told me it was going to be very small!"

"...you're right, Alphonse. I didn't invite her! She doesn't know; she won't hurt me. Let's go visit our teacher!" Edward started to creepy, fake laugh; the kind you laugh when you're happy and nervous about something.

The train arrived at the Dublith station a few minutes later. Edward and Alphonse, carrying light luggage, quickly unboarded and made their way through the streets of Dublith. It was getting dark, and the boys wanted to reach teacher before it became too late. Otherwise they'd be greeted with a punch in the face for rudeness rather than a friendly hello.

It was roughly 8 o' clock at night when the boys made it to the Curtis house. The boys took bets and Ed won, meaning Al would have to knock on the door. Alphonse knocked politely, wondering how Izumi would react to seeing them. Even though he knew there was nothing to fear, he couldn't help but feel his heart race as he heard Izumi's footsteps approached the door. Old habits die hard.

"Who's there?" asked Izumi, her voice annoyed.

The brothers traded panicked looks. "Um, the Elric brothers," said Alphonse in a soft voice. The door swung open and Al was strangled in a tight hug.

"Oh, Alphonse! It's been so long! You look healthy!" Izumi squealed happily. Al, relieved that he wasn't being beaten, patted his teacher on the back.

"Nice to see you, Teacher."

Izumi let go of Alphonse and moved in front of Edward. Instead of a hug, Izumi greeted Ed with a clean left hook to the jaw, sending the unsuspecting boy face-down on the ground. "Hello, Edward," she said icily. Edward winced as he could see her metaphorical flames of anger cascading over her form. "Inside. Now."

Both Edward and Alphonse didn't dare to disobey her.


	2. Dublith

"I think she knows," whispered Edward to his brother. Izumi clenched her fist and brought it down onto Edward's head.

"YOW! What was that for!" Ed yelled.

"Still as short tempered as ever," Izumi remarked. "Come inside, boys."

Alphonse helped his older brother to his feet. The brothers exchanged confused glances before entering the Curtis house. The smell of raw meat made their stomachs churn as they passed through the butcher shop into the more lively part of the Curtis residence.

Both boys shook hands with Sig, Izumi's husband. He seemed to grip Edward's hand twice as hard, as if he was angry about something.

"Sit," Izumi commanded, pulling out two chairs from the Curtis's round kitchen table. Ed and Al took their seats, with Izumi and Sig taking the other seats. "You know, Sig and I have only been home for a few hours. We just got back from a trip."

"Oh, really?" asked Al naively. "Where did you go?"

"Resembool," she answered, casting a small frown at Ed. Edward began to grow nervous. "I was planning on attending a wedding today."

"Ah, shit!" yelled Ed. He folded his arms on the table and slammed his head on top of them, resting it there at his defeat. Alphonse sat there awkwardly, not wanting to say anymore. He glanced apprehensively between his teacher and his brother, wondering what would happen next. He was also confused, because a few minutes ago Edward had told him that Izumi wasn't invited to his wedding. So why was she there? And… how did she find out?

"Yes," Izumi said angrily. "Winry invited us a few weeks ago. You didn't even have the nerve to invite us! And to think that I consider you and Al as my own children…"

"Wait, you're mad that I didn't invite you?" asked Ed, breathing a sigh of relief.

"You're so stupid! That's obviously one of the last things I'd be mad about!" Izumi slammed her hands on the table, causing the brothers to jump. "When Winry called to invite us, I was shocked that someone like _you_ was getting married. Sig was too. Winry told me that you wanted a small wedding and didn't plan on inviting me, but she saw fit to invite you. She was so happy and excited, I couldn't refuse her. Sometimes I'm just too nice."

Izumi cleared her throat, grabbed Ed's long golden ponytail, and yanked Edward's head out of his arms, forcing eye contact. As gold eyes met black, the tension in the room rose by hundreds of degrees. "And today, wouldn't you know, Winry looked beautiful in her white dress, all ready to be married to you. She waited forever for you to show up... but you never did. Three hours after she was supposed to be wed, she called it quits. She couldn't take it anymore, the pain of waiting."

In one smooth motion, Izumi leapt over the table in front of Edward and hoisted him up by his shirt collar. Because of his small height and her strength, it was fairly easy for her to lift Ed up. "Why would you ever do something like that? Huh? Didn't your mother raise you better? Didn't I teach you better? Well? You idiot! Why did you break her heart?" Izumi screamed, shaking Ed back and forth.

"Teacher, no need to hurt him," Al said quietly, as if that would somehow help his brother. Sig pushed Al's hand away and gave him an evil glare that told him to be silent. Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, Izumi stopped shaking poor Edward and glared at him, waiting for him to answer her.

Everyone awaited Ed's answer, for Ed was always someone with a snappy comeback. Only this time, he didn't have one. Instead, Edward kept his eyes glued to the floor (whether out of shame or fear is unknown) and said boldly yet meekly, "I have nothing to say."

At this statement, both Alphonse and Sig turned their attention to Izumi, awaiting her reaction. It was almost like a game of tennis, watching the confrontation between the two. The last thing the two would have expected was for the housewife to go soft on him. However, that is exactly what she did. "Why don't you go sleep," she said softly, her face morphing into a caring, motherly smile. Ed glanced up at her, confused, but quickly nodded and retreated to the guest bedroom he and Al used to share when he realized how easily her mood could sour. Before he could leave the kitchen for good, Izumi spoke again. "We'll talk again tomorrow," she said, bitter sharpness returning to her tone. "And I expect some answers."

"Yes ma'am!" mumbled Ed as he scrambled into his room. Sig and Al stood in awe at what just happened.

After a few moments of silence, Sig decided to speak up. "What was that about? Why'd you let him go?"

Izumi leaned back in her chair and let out an exaggerated sigh, blowing one of her black tendrils of hair upwards in the process. "He made a mistake and he knows it. Right now, I'm going to let his pain be self-inflicted. That's the best way to make someone learn from their mistakes: let them feel the pain of their actions." She cracked each of her knuckles. "Either that, or I'm just too nice." She said those words often enough to be a catch phrase.

"I didn't think that was nice," mumbled Alphonse while slumping into his chair.

'What'd you say!" Izumi yelled. She clenched her hand into a fist and waved it in front of the golden-haired boy's face. "Do you want some of this!"

"N-No ma'am!" exclaimed Al, slouching even farther into his chair, so far that his bottom was pretty much hanging off of the edge of his seat. Both Sig and Izumi noticed this and began to laugh mockingly. Al simply sat in his chair pouting, feeling like he was an eight year old boy enduring alchemy training rather than a grown seventeen year old. He hung his head down in shame.

The laughter stopped abruptly, and Alphonse lifted his head to see both Sig and Izumi gazing at him compassionately. Alphonse mused over what could have caused the sudden mood change in the room but had no explanation. "What?" he asked them.

"I was wondering, why are _you_ here, Al? Has Ed dragged you into this mess?" asked Izumi.

"No, Teacher. I'm here to clean up Ed's mess; not take part in it."

Sig broke out into a huge grin while Izumi smiled softly. "It's as if you're the older one," she remarked.

Al smiled out of the relief that he was not going to be subject to his teacher's harsh punishments. "My Granny tells me that all of the time. And I'll tell you the same thing I say to her: _someone _has to look out for Ed."

"You know, Al," said Sig, "I have an older brother. I'm nowhere near as loyal to him as you are to your brother."

"I owe a lot to my brother. He's the reason I'm here in the flesh rather than in a cold suit of armor. He gave up the ability to practice alchemy just to get me here. I know how much alchemy meant to him; he sacrificed a lot for me. And all I could do was give him back his arm. He even still has an automail leg and-"

"Alphonse," said Izumi.

"Yes?"

"It's getting late. You should go to bed."

"But I'm not-"

"I said go to bed!"

"Yes ma'am!"

* * *

><p>Alphonse silently crept into the bedroom to find his older brother lying on his still made bed, stomach down, with his face buried in his pillow. He wore nothing but boxers and his undershirt. "Brother, are you awake?" Al whispered.<p>

"Yeah," mumbled Edward.

"You should get some sleep. You have a really long lecture to look forward to from Teacher."

Edward began slamming his head up and down into his pillow. "You know... I'm blaming... you... for... this," he muttered between head slams.

Alphonse laughed and nodded. "As much as you hate it, it would do you good to hear some of Teacher's wisdom."

"Yeah, okay, whatever. But we're only going to stay here for tomorrow and that's it, alright? We're leaving the day after tomorrow."

Al took off his jacked and looked at his sibling warily. "But where shall we go next?"

"Beats me," said Edward. "We'll go wherever the wind takes us, I guess.

Alphonse snickered as he began to remove his suspenders. "You idiot, that saying only works for sailors."

"Hey, watch it! Don't call me an idiot. Look, we'll just buy tickets for the earliest train, and wherever that train goes, we go."

"Sounds like a plan, Brother. Now go to sleep; you need all the rest you can get now. Imagine what would happen if you dozed off during Teacher's speech."

Neither brother responded to that, for both were imaging the horrible consequences that would befall Edward should that happen. Edward shuddered and lifted up the covers to his bed. "You just ruined all possibility of me having a good dream. Thanks, little brother. Now turn that light off!"

* * *

><p>The sun was just beginning to crack over the horizon when Izumi decided to burst into the brothers' room and literally <em>drag <em>them out of their beds. Poor Edward was so tired from yesterday's events that not even dragging him a good thirty feet on solid wood flooring could awaken his poor soul. Sig took it upon himself to give Ed a kick in the gut, which woke him up nicely as well as rousing his anger. (Not that making Ed angry was a difficult task or anything.)

"What was that for? Do you know how early it is?" Ed snapped, not realizing who he was talking to.

"Brother..." said Al with warning.

"Youuuuuu braaaaaaaattt!" Izumi screamed, hurtling Edward across the butcher area and out of the door, which was being held open by Sig. "Do not talk to me that way! Now, I'm going to see how well you and your brother have been maintaining your skills!"

"But teacher," said Ed, "you know that I gave up alchemy." He cast a sneer is his younger brother's direction. "So the only one with 'skills' here is Al."

Before Alphonse could call out his older brother for selling him out, Izumi started to laugh. "Oh, don't give me that. I _also_ want to see how well you've been practicing your martial arts."

"But I haven't- UGH!" muttered Edward as he was thrown into the wall behind him. He tried to get up; only to fall down again as Alphonse was thrown into him. Their teacher decided to charge them again, to which Al clapped and transmuted a wall between the two boys and the woman for protection.

"Oh, so you want to play that way, huh?" taunted Izumi as she clapped and transmuted a stone arm that hooked around Al's wall and knocked the two boys onto the ground.

"Hey! No fair; I can't even use alchemy!" yelled Edward.

"That's not my problem," answered Izumi, clapping to do another transmutation.

"Don't worry, Brother, I'll use alchemy for the both of us," yelled Al as he transmuted an earthy box around them to deflect Izumi's attacks. When her alchemic attack failed, the housewife's loyal husband decided to use his brute strength to break down the Elric's stone fortress.

"If you're going to turn this free-for-all into a two vs. one, Alphonse, then I have all rights to include Sig in this battle as well," called Izumi. "So now we have two fair teams, each having one member that can practice alchemy."

"I'd hardly call this fair!" yelled Ed. Edward was well known for being "vertically challenged" and even more famous for the tantrum he displays when his short stature is mentioned. Edward, who stood at about 5'3", knew he was no match for the hulking, 6'4" body of Sig. Even his younger brother, one of the most skilled alchemists in Amestris, stood no match against Izumi. Izumi was, hands down, the toughest woman that both of the Elrics have ever met. She is missing some important internal organs due to a failed human transmutation, yet she is still able to kick both of the Elric brothers' asses whenever she pleases.

The sound of Alphonse's and Izumi's clapping, which was louder than normal clapping due to the forces of alchemy being utilized, filled the air while rocks were thrown in every direction. Poor Ed and Sig didn't even get a chance to fight each other, for they were too busy dodging alchemic attacks. The two ran off of the Curtis property and stood in the middle of the street to avoid being struck by rubble.

"We'll settle this here, yeah?" announced Sig and he came towards Edward with a punch. Edward was able to dodge, but Sig skillfully performed a follow up attack. The ex-alchemist instinctively held up his right arm to absorb the attack. However, since his right arm is no longer made of automail, Ed felt the impact of the attack reverberate painfully through his arm.

"Ow... crap," he muttered. Sig tried to land another hit in Ed's moment of weakness, but the boy managed to duck out of the swing. At that instant, Edward realized his advantage. Even though Sig was stronger and was clearly the better fighter, Ed could use his small size and increased agility to easily dodge attacks.

"What's the matter, old man? Am I getting to fast for you?" he taunted.

Sig growled and came after Edward with a series of punches. Some of them were close calls, but thankfully Ed avoided injury. He waited for Sig to falter before making his own strike – a clean kick in the gut using his automail leg. Despite Sig's size, the force of Ed's kick was enough to make him tip over.

Unfortunately, Al was not fairing as well. He was reluctant to hurt Izumi due to his compassionate nature, and it served as a huge weakness for the boy. Izumi was landing hit after hit and all Alphonse was doing was pathetically blocking each hit. The two weren't even using alchemy anymore, as they didn't bother wasting all of the energy needed to perform transmutations.

"Come on, Al, you're boring me," moaned Izumi. "You're going to have to hit me eventually if you want this to end." The boy showed a bit of reluctance, but decided to heed his teacher's words. He quickly clapped his hands together and transmuted a stone rod, which he used to deflect Izumi's last kick. He then twisted the rod to knock Izumi off balance, an aikido move then she herself had taught him years ago. In other words, he used her own strength against her. Izumi ended up lying face down on the ground with Alphonse towering over her.

"Well, looks like you remember some of my teachings," she remarked. Al smiled, but Izumi used the window of opportunity and sprang up, using her leg to kick the unsuspecting boy in the jaw. "But you still have a lot to learn." Izumi dusted her hands up before helping Alphonse to his feet. Sig also returned, carrying Edward by his shirt.

"So, you lost too, Brother?" asked Al pitifully.

"Yes," answer Sig. "But he did manage to knock me on the ground. And considering how much of a shrimp he is, I'd say he did an okay job." At the mention of the word shrimp, Ed began to shout and punch and rant.

"Well, this one here has a lot to learn. He seems too afraid to hit a lady," commented Izumi. Alphonse hung his head in shame. "One day, you'll learn that you go easy on someone just because they are a woman."

* * *

><p>"I am very disappointed in you, Edward."<p>

Silence passed over everyone in the room like a drought, sucking away all happiness and leaving a path of anxiety over what the future would bring. After the "fight" outside, Izumi made tea for everyone. Light conversation was made up until when Izumi spoke those words. After speaking, she let those words hang in the air until they became unbearable. Then she spoke again. "I may have said this last night but I'll say it again. I thought I taught you better than to leave girls at the altar."

"Ugh," grumbled Ed. "I saw this coming." He folded his arms and rested his head upon the table. "I guess I deserve this."

"Damn right you do," yelled Izumi, pounding her fists on the table and standing out of her chair. After her outburst, she cleared her throat and turned to Edward's brother. "Hey, Alphonse, why don't you go take a walk?"

Al, now alert due to the sudden attention on him, looked at his mentor warily. "How come?"

"Alphonse," said Sig. "Just go."

Al's gaze shifted from Izumi, to Sig, and then finally to Edward, who looked at his younger brother with empty eyes. "Just listen to teacher, Al," he said.

Alphonse nodded, and without another word, left to peruse the streets of Dublith. There were many people outside, but that somehow made Al feel more isolated than ever. The last time he was here, he was still trapped inside of his suit of armor, so it is highly unlikely that anyone will recognize him now that he is in his adult human body. He felt a little saddened at the thought, and sighed. He has assumed that the pain and loneliness of the "armored days" would be gone forever upon returning to his body, but that was not the case. Sometime he would wonder if moments like this were the price of getting his human body back, Equivalent Exchange.

As he walked the streets, he stopped when he noticed a phone booth in front of an old coffee shop. He subconsciously dug in his pockets for change, and realized he had enough for approximately a ten-minute conversation. He quickly entered the phone booth and dialed the one number that he knew by heart.

"Rockbell residence."

"Granny!"

"...Al? Is that you? You have a ton of explaining to do, young man! And where's Ed?"

Al sighed. He was hoping that if Winry had received his letter, she would have told Pinako about it, but that didn't seem to be the case. "Granny, I'm sorry, but can you put Winry on the phone?"

"I'll never understand you boys." Al heard Pinako call Winry's name out of the receiver. "Winry! Phone call!"

Even though she sounded far away, she was loud enough to where Al could still hear her loud and angry response. "If it's Edward tell him to fuck off and never talk to me again!"

"It's his brother," answered Al's granny.

Al expected her to hang up, but that was not the case. "Al, where's Ed?"

"We're both in Dublith. Ed's inside getting lectured by Teacher. I'm outside using a payphone; I called to check up on you."

"Good! That's _sooooooo_ good for him," she remarked with sarcasm so bitter that Al couldn't help but cringe. "At least _you_ have the decency to call and see if I am okay."

"Winry... please don't be like that."

"What, you expect me to be okay with this!"

"Well... no... but... I...," Al began to fumble over his speech, "I wanted to see if you were angry with Ed."

"Fucking right I'm angry with him!" Al lifted the receiver away from his mouth and sighed. He deduced Winry must be exceptionally angry because she hardly ever swears; the only one in their group who ever swore is Edward. Unless... unless some of Ed's traits rubbed off on Winry. Al tried to hide his laughter. Even though they were in one of the biggest fights imaginable, Ed and Winry still acted like a married couple.

"Alphonse Elric! Are you LAUGHING?" barked Winry through the phone.

"Uh..n-no! I'm using a public phone booth; those are just pedestrians."

"Right."

"...I'm sorry Winry. For all of this."

Her silent hesitation could be heard through the receiver. "You're not the one who should be apologizing. Gosh, Al, why do you always try to fix Ed's mistakes?"

"Ugh, Teacher told me that same thing. I'm starting to think it might be my permanent job. Of course, once you marry him, it'll be yours." He bit his lip after saying that, wondering if was crossing the line.

"Too bad that's never going to happen!" Winry screamed, causing Alphonse to cringe. She yelled so loud, in fact, that a few pedestrians glanced over at Al.

"It almost did."

"Yeah, well you know what? I didn't. And it's probably never going to happen. Maybe if Ed marched his sorry little butt back to Resembool, got down on his knees and _begged _me to marry him... well, maybe then I'd _consider _taking him back. But as of now I'd never marry your idiot brother, so don't try and make me!"

"I understand," Al said. His soft statement was answered with the beeping of the line. Winry had angrily hung up on him right when she finished her tirade. She didn't allow Al any time to comfort her. Al hung up his end of the phone line and continued his stroll through Dublith, taking his thoughts with him.

_Winry, you and Brother are so much alike. It hurts me to see you two fight like this. Ed is the smartest person I know, but he is a complete idiot when it comes to relationships. I know that you are very angry and hurt right now and probably will be for a long time, but I'll make things right for everyone. Brother is getting lectured by teacher at this moment, and hopefully that will be torturous enough for him to realize what he put you through. It's Equivalent Exchange, his suffering for yours._

Alphonse sighed and grabbed at his short golden hair frustratedly. This was a situation that could not be compared to alchemy, especially since Winry hardly understood the concept of Equivalent Exchange, and the Elric brothers followed the law almost religiously.


	3. North City

"North City!"

"You told me to buy tickets for the earliest train!"

"North City!"

"I was only following your request!"

"North City."

"Shush, Ed, people are staring."

"But why did you have to buy tickets to North City, Al? What the hell are we going to find in _North City_?"

"One, I bought the tickets because you _told me_ to buy tickets for the earliest train! And two, I don't know. A new adventure?"

"I'll tell you what I'm going to find: a better younger brother."

"...you don't mean that!" the younger brother cried.

Ed gave a small, light hearted laugh. "I don't."

Wanting to end his early morning spectacle, Alphonse dragged his brother into the train terminal and boarded the train set for the north. He was already a little annoyed with the fact that Ed had quickly rushed out of the Curtis house with a lackluster goodbye after all the couple had done for the boys, but this took the cake.

"Why do you have to be like this, Edward?" Al asked sharply once they were seated on the train.

The random question and the intensity Al used to ask it startled the ex-alchemist. "What do you mean?"

"Why do you love to cause trouble?"

"Something tells me cracking a joke here won't lighten the mood."

"Edward, please."

"I don't mean to cause trouble, Al. It just follows me. You of all people should know that."

"Hmph," was the younger brother gave in response.

Edward realized the Al was truly upset with him and tried to say something, but held his tongue when his brother frowned and turned his heads towards the window, signaling the end of their conversation. Ed stared at his brother's form very confused; he had no idea why Al was so mad, which was unsettling to him. He and Al knew almost everything about each other. Normally, he would be able to detect the course of his brother's foul mood and vanquish it. Edward had a feeling that Al as mad at him, but he didn't know how to fix it or what to say. He simply sat in silence, wondering what he did to offend Al. He could never figure it out, and the two brothers spent the twenty-four hour train ride in painful silence.

* * *

><p>It was a new day, and they were still stuck on the train. Edward wasn't able to get much sleep; he floated in and out of consciousness throughout the train ride. Edward noticed that the temperature had taken an extreme drop since he was last awake. He turned to see his little brother Alphonse sleeping soundly next to him, his head resting lopsidedly on the window. Even though it's been over two years now, Ed still feels relief upon knowing that Al can now sleep again now that he has returned to his body.<p>

Ed stretched and felt a shooting pain travel up his spine. He groaned in response and clutched his back. He was absolutely miserable, stuck on this train headed to a dreary cold place with a younger brother who may or may not be angry with him at this point.

"We will be arriving at Northern Station in a few minutes!" announced someone on the train.

Edward lightly pushed his brother's right shoulder. After two shoves, Al's golden hazel eyes opened slowly. Once the cold air of the north hit him, he shuddered violently. "Woah... it's cold," he muttered. He turned and looked at Ed blankly. "Any reason for _so kindly _waking me?" The tone of annoyance in his voice made Edward realize that Al was still angry with him.

"Yes, in a few minutes. I wonder how crowded Northern will be. You think it's anything like Central?"

"Northern is way more crowded than Central," said Al pointedly.

"More crowded than Central! That place is like a zoo!"

"Yes, but this is the only major city in the north. Therefore everyone in the north will be dependent on the city."

"Okay then, smarty pants," Ed joked.

Al didn't even crack a smile.

* * *

><p>"Now, what were you saying about a crowded city, Al?" asked Ed mockingly, trying to joke with Al again to get a reaction out of him.<p>

He got one, and it wasn't pleasant. "Shut it," snapped Al as the two brothers walked through the snow-covered and empty streets of Northern City. "Do you think they're going to let us in the Command Center?"

"Well, I _was_ a state alchemist. They should."

"But you don't have your pocket watch and the people here don't know you well..."

The boys walked along the street towards Northern Command, unsure if they would even be able to enter. The numbing cold was putting a strain on the boys, as they found their pace becoming slower and slower. Suddenly, the boys were jolted awake as they found themselves being thrown on the ground and held around the arms. They began kicking and screaming, but the force holding them down was stronger than them.

"What? Get off of me!" screamed Edward at the top of his lungs. He turned his head to see that he was not being strangled, but rather hugged by a familiar person. And that familiar person was a very muscular man with a blonde mustache, bright blue eyes, and sparkles that probably have been passed down his family line for generations.

"OH ELRIC BROTHERS! IT HAS BEEN YEARS SINCE I HAVE SEEN YOUR YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL FACES. I AM SIMPLY OVERCOME WITH EMOTION!" yelled Armstrong as manly tears cascaded down his angular face.

"Hello... Major... I see you are wearing a shirt," commented Alphonse pitifully as he lay on the ground, crushed by the older man.

"It's Lieutenant Colonel now!" beamed the large, hulking man.

"Right... um... Colonel... Armstrong, what brings you to North City?" asked Edward.

"I'm doing some work for my sis- The General."

"So you're here working at the Northern Command for a while? Wanna to let us in?" asked Ed hopefully.

"I'D LOVE TO ESCORT MY LOVELY FRIENDS INSIDE OF THE COMMAND CENTER. Olivier might not be too pleased, but..."

"You'll let us in?"

"OF COURSE! FOLLOW ME!" By follow, the newly promoted Colonel actually meant "enjoy the ride", because he grabbed each of the brothers in a separate arm and ran to the center with them in tow. Edward cried out in protest, as he was already sore enough from the twenty-four hour train ride.

* * *

><p>With the Colonel guiding them through, the Elrics were able to pass through Northern Command with no questions asked. Well, at first. Once their presence was known, General Armstrong asked for - no, demanded – them be brought into her office. The boys hadn't seen her since the promised day, when Al was still a suit of armor, so they didn't mind catching up with the General.<p>

"So, that's what you really look like," she said with a matter-of-fact tone to Alphonse.

"That's not a very nice greeting, General," remarked Ed.

"I'm merely speaking the truth, Elric. Anyway, it's nice to see you boys again. Glad to see you are both well."

"Thanks, General," stated Alphonse. "You look well yourself. Have you been working out?"

The General sat back in her chair, crossed her legs, and placed her hands on top of her knee. "Oh, Alphonse, you flatter me so. I must keep in top shape to look after my men. It is my duty."

"OH SISTER, MAYBE ONE DAY YOU WILL HAVE A GLOURIOUS BODY COMPAREABLE TO MINE," chirped Colonel Armstrong from behind the brothers.

"Shut up, you pansy! Your body might be well-trained, but do not forget that you must also train the mind as well. And yours is nothing but hot air," General Armstrong snapped.

A tense, awkward air suddenly pierced the room, causing everyone to fall silent. General Olivier sat staring at her brother, who looked rather frightened of his older sister. Alphonse stood as still as a statue right in the middle of the room, his eyes studying the worn wood floor. Edward, being socially oblivious as usual, stood next to Alphonse whistling a random tune. After an eternity, he noticed the silence and gave a huge, drawn out yawn coupled with a massive stretch that nearly hit Al cross the face. "Wow, am I tired!" he stated. "I must have train lag or something." He laughed at his own miserable joke.

"OH EDWARD, ALLOW ME TO ESCORT YOU TO THE BARRACKS FOR SOME REST. WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCOMPANY US, ALPHONSE?"

"No, thanks, Colonel," said Al, annoyance apparent on his face and in his tone.

"Oh, well, see you, Al," said Edward as he left with Armstrong. Al gave an angry sigh which was well noticed by the woman General.

"My brother is such an idiot," remarked Olivier. "And it looks like yours is as well."

"You don't even know the half of it."

Olivier raised one of her blonde eyebrows to a perfect arch, signaling interest. "Oh?" She pointed a gloved hand towards the black leather seat in front of her desk.

Al complied with her silent demand and sat down in the chair. "The only reason we're here is because Brother is running away from his own wedding."

Olivier's composure broke for a for a fraction of a second. "You're kidding. That coward. Why on earth would he run away from his own wedding?"

Al sighed. "I really don't know the answer to that. And I don't mean to disrespect my older brother, but I must say this: Even though Ed is a scientific genius, he's an idiot when it comes to relationships and people."

To that comment, the General laughed. "It's as if you're the older one."

The young boy breathed a deep breath and buried his face in his hands. "If I had a dollar for every time I heard that..." he muttered.

"It's alright. I hear that all of the time about Alex. But the funny thing is that I actually _am_ the older one!"

Al's golden eyes shrunk in surprise. "What! No way!" The two began to laugh together.

"Yes, it's true. I'm older than Alex. I guess people assume otherwise due to our size differences."

Alphonse burst into joyous laughter. "I'm sorry but... that's _too_ funny."

"Mm, yes, I suppose. But once you get to know the both of us, it is apparent that I am the eldest. You can see by the way my brother and I treat each other. Alex holds a certain respect towards me that I do not understand. I suppose it is something to with being younger sibling."

A little thrown off by this revelation, Al buried his face in his hands yet again. "I.. yes, you're right. It is."

Olivier's mouth tightened to a crease (although Alphonse could not see it). "No matter how I treat him, he always looks up to me. Sometimes I try to test how I far I can go with him. Other times, I fear what will happen if I lose his respect. He's may be a complete imbecile, but he's still my brother.

"If your brother is anything like me, it would be impossible for you to lose his respect."

Olivier did not respond to that, prompting Al to look up to see if he had crossed some sort of unspoken border. When he glanced at the General, he saw a very scary sight. Her ice blue eyes were fixated on him with a glare so magnificent, the boy felt as if she was piercing right into his soul. However, even scarier than that was the fact that her light pink lips were curled into a smile. And not one of her haughty smiles, either; it was a genuine smile. The Great Wall of Briggs – the mighty Ice Queen herself – was smiling at him. Al felt panic rise in his chest.

"... of course, I'm not like your brother..." Al added uncertainly.

"Be thankful for that," Olivier quipped. "It's just… your brother is a complete and utter idiot. Even worse than mine, I admit. And yet, you treat him with utmost respect and admiration. You're mad at him right now – I can see it – but you still revere him. Why is that?"

"I've seen a side of Ed nobody else has. I know what he is fully capable of. I know him better than myself and I… I owe so much to him."

"But isn't the woman he intended to marry your childhood best friend – as well as his – is she not? Do you harbor no anger towards for that?"

Alphonse frowned slightly, wondering how the General knew that it was Winry Ed was planning on marrying. Even greater was his confusion as to why Olivier was prying in on the matter. Nonetheless, he answered her question honestly."Yes, I am angry, but rather than abandoning my brother, I want to lead him on the right path."

Olivier placed her elbows on her desk and leaned on them, looking Al right in the eyes. "So, tell me, young Elric, why are you in North City?"

Al faltered a little, not wanting to mention Ed's idiotic reasoning for coming to the North. "Um, I'm not sure. I don't know what I'm doing. I just want to bring brother home."

"And what will you do once you complete that goal? What comes next for you?"

The barrage of questions made Al flustered. People never asked him about his plans or his goals. It was always about Ed. When he left on his pilgrimage to Xing a few months earlier, the only question he'd received from people was "Is your brother coming with you?" There was nothing about his goals, or his dreams. Of course, that was how Al preferred it. He was never one to enjoy the spotlight, and was grateful that his brother seemed naturally inclined to it. However, it was nice to have someone ask him about these things for once.

"Well, seven months ago I left on a journey to travel to the East and explore all of the countries there. Brother left on a similar one to travel west. Before he left, he proposed to Winry and she said yes. He finished his journey two weeks ago and has been in town for the wedding. I haven't finished my traveling, but I left Xing in order to be with them during their wedding. I expected to be back in Xing my now, but look where I am."

Oliver rested her hand upon your chin. "You should leave your brother and return to your travels."

"..what?"

The fierce Amestrian woman slammed her hands onto her desk, causing Al to jump back in his chair. "I said, leave your brother to figure out his own mistakes and go attend to your affairs!" she screamed.

Once Al processed what the General was telling him, his face twisted into one of complete resolve. "I will not leave my brother behind."

At that notion, General Armstrong stood up roughly and thrust her face in front of Alphonse's. The boy felt his cheeks grow warm, but an expression of determination was apparent on his features. "Alphonse Elric, I _order_ you to leave this country!" she snapped, her voice full of authority and intimidation.

Al, however, was not fazed. He looked the fearful woman straight into her cold eyes and said calmly. "I am a civilian, therefore, you cannot order me to do such a thing."

The General licked her lips slowly, accepting the boy's challenge. "Oh yes, I can, if I do it a certain way."

"I won't do it."

"Disobeying a superior's orders? That's land you in jail for a good five years, Elric."

"I don't care."

The General sat back in her chair and sighed. "You are just as much of an idiot as your brother. I guess I have no choice but to send both of you off to Xing, then."

"Hey! You... wait what?" asked Alphonse, processing exactly what the General was telling him.

"I'm sending you both to Xing in a few hours."

Al was dumbfounded. "But… why?"

You are just wasting time with your brother here. You are too stubborn to realize it, so I am taking action. I am sending the both of you off to Xing, unless you'd rather spend 5 years in prison, of course. The trip will last two weeks and will be fully funded by the Amestrian government."

"General... you don't have to do this. I... We.."

"Stop your blubbering and go relay the news your brother," Olivier said coldly.

Alphonse quickly stood up and gave a quick bow to the General. "I am forever in your debt."

The General waved her hand dismissively as the younger Elric left the room. A small smiled played upon her lips as she thought of how happy he left, even considering how cold she was during the second half of the encounter. After a few minutes of blissful silence, the unmistakable thumping of Colonel Armstrong's footsteps made themselves known in the General's office.

"General Armstrong, sir," greeted the Colonel traditionally.

Olivier sighed. "What is it, Alex?" she asked, dropping all formalities.

"Alphonse told me that you are sending him and Edward to Xing."

"That is correct. I want those boys out of this city."

To that statement, Alex shook his head and laughed. "Oh sister, you have the weirdest ways of showing you care."

"That's great," she commented, "but I never said anything about this being a gesture of affection."

"You don't have to," remarked the Colonel as he exited her office. Before he left, he gave a respectful bow to his sister.

"Moron," she whispered, a large and happy smile making a rare appearance on her face.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Edward!" Al yelled. The military dorms were just as he expected them to be: dark, dull, and cold. However, he expected the room to be full of people, which it wasn't. It was completely empty, which made the room even duller.<p>

"Yeah?" called his brother from a random bunk in the room. Al followed his voice and found his brother on the bottom of one of the bunks in the back. He was wearing nothing but a pair of long pants, to which the rest of his clothes were strewn about the floor. His arms were crossed over the top of his head. Al sighed.

"We're leaving to go to Xing in a few hours."

Ed flew up instantly, his loose blonde hair flying all around him. "What! Xing? We can't!"

"Yes we can. General Armstrong is funding a two week trip for us to go to Xing."

"But what the hell are we going to do there, Al?"

'Well,_ I _need to see Mei. I was supposed to be back in Xing by now, and she's probably worried. I haven't written or anything." Al's angry and defiant tone made Ed realize why Al was angry with him the past day and a half.

"Oh... I'm sorry Al. I completely forgot... I'm sorry. We can go to Xing and do whatever you need to do."

Al blinked at his brother wondrously. "That was easier than I expected," said Al softly. He took off his brown leather shoes and button up shirt and climbed into the bed next to Ed's. Unlike his brother, Al folded his clothes into a neat pile and placed them next to his bed. "You should get some rest, Brother."

The two brothers laid in silence, trying to fall asleep. However, neither of them could get to sleep because they both had things on their minds. Unusually enough, the brothers were thinking about totally different things. Al was thinking about Mei and Xing, while Ed was thinking about Al.

"Hey, Brother?" asked Ed amidst the silence.

Al groaned sleepily. "Hm?"

"I've been thinking.. and...you know, you can go to Xing without me. I realize that even though you're my little brother, but you're not little anymore. You have your own life, and you need to pursue it. And if I am holding you back.. well, I can't do that to you."

The sincerity of Ed's words temporarily pulled Al from his sleepiness. "Edward... please don't say that! Who cares if I have my own life? We're brothers; I can't just abandon you for my own selfish reasons, no matter how much you ruin your life."

"Thanks Al. Really... thanks. So… does this mean you aren't mad at me anymore?"

"I was never mad at you, Brother, just annoyed with you."

"Whatever. So does this mean we're cool now?"

"Hm... we'll see."

"Hey! What do you mean by that!"

Alphonse laughed and closed his eyes. "Oh, nothing, Brother. Go back to sleep, okay?"

"Fine," said Ed, closing his eyes as well. He didn't say anything, but he felt as if a heavy load was taken off of his chest. Knowing that Al still supported him and wasn't angry with him was the best feeling in the world. No matter how foolish he acted, no matter how many relationships he ruined, Al would always be by his side; Alphonse, his faithful little brother. "Thanks, Brother," Ed whispered to himself.


	4. Xing: The Chang Clan

**WARNING:** There is an OC in this chapter. Don't worry, she has a minor role and is not a Mary Sue.

* * *

><p>Both brothers were comfortably asleep when they were both woken up exceptionally early at the request of General Armstrong. Al grabbed his clothes hurriedly and Ed made a desperate attempt to grab all of his clothes which were strewn about the room. Sadly, he was only able to grab his pants before being pushed into the biting cold air of Northern City.<p>

"D-d-damn, it'ssss co-co-cold," he chattered.

"Ugh, Edward," whined Al. "You can't stand out here shirtless." He took of his own jacket and handed it to his older brother. While Ed was putting on Al's jacket, he was handed a note by one of the guards. The boy angrily grabbed the letter and read it aloud to his brother. "Elric brothers, you shall have the honor of being personally escorted to the Xing border by my own brother, Colonel Armstrong. Signed, General Olivier Mira Armstrong."

Ed paused. "Is she trying to torture us, or is she trying to torture us?"

"Brother, don't say- OH GOD HELP ME I CANNOT BREATHE." The younger boy was wrapped in a lung-squeezing hug by the aforementioned man.

"OH ELRIC BROTHERS, IT IS AN HONOR TO ACCOMPANY YOU TO THE BORDER OF XING. WE SHALL BE ARRVING THERE BY TRAIN. THE TRAIN LEAVES IN HALF AN HOUR SO WE MUST DEPART IMMEDIATLEY," he bellowed as he released Alphonse from the hug.

"Colonel, do you always have to shout?" asked Edward.

"WHY OF COURSE. MY WONDROUS VOCAL CHORDS HAVE BEEN PASSED DOWN THE ARMSTRONG FAMILY LINE FOR GENERATIONS. IT WOULD DISHONOR MY BLOODLINE TO NOT USE THEM."

"Erm, okay then, Colonel."

* * *

><p>"That train ride felt like it was never going to end!" said Al as he, his brother, and Colonel Armstrong exited the dusty train station of Youswell. From Youswell, they would have to travel on foot until they reached the border of Xing. Then, the brothers would undergo searching as part of Amestris's and Xing's foreign affairs protocol. They would be allowed rest and then be able to formally exit Amestris and make the five day trek across the desert. This was pretty much routine to Al, who had done it twice already. He expertly explained the process to his brother and the curious Colonel as they walked to Youswell.<p>

"Are you kidding me? I don't want to be searched!"

"Brother, it's either that or we cross the border illegally. And trust me, you do not want to be caught as an illegal alien in Xing. I hear the prisons there are awful."

"Yeah? But isn't Ling emperor now? He'd bail us out!"

"I imagine he has more important things to worry about, Brother."

"Well, can't Mei get us out? Isn't she a princess?"

"She doesn't have any power outside of her clan, Brother."

"Looks like you'll have to deal with being _just_ the Chang prince," he snickered.

"What? Brother!"

* * *

><p>After parting ways with the Colonel, being searched and allowed a decent night's rest, the boys awoke around midday to start their five day journey. They received random tips from the border patrol as they crossed over the border, such as "Cover your skin!" or "Travel lightly!", but the boys did not pay any heed.<p>

Alphonse was used to the sight after crossing the desert twice now, but Edward was mesmerized by the desert. To him, it seemed like a large tan blanket was thrown across his sight, covering everything. The desert was so large and so vast; it seemed as if it could easily swallow him up and hold him captive within its sands.

Staring at the blank landscape seemed to make his mind blank was well. By traveling east, he and Al would reach Xing, but by travelling east he would appear to be travelling north... and with the combined directions, he would end up travelling to Drachma... which would end his demise, and...

"Brother, stop spacing out!"

Edward shook away his worried and noticed, his brother was standing next to a young Xingese girl he did not know. They appeared to know each other. The girl had shoulder length black-gray hair with two individual braids, one behind each ear - typical Xingese style. Edward noted painfully that she had three piercings in each ear, which subtly reminded him of Winry. His heart dropped a little. The girl also wore light-colored, traditional Xingese clothing. "Hello, I assume you are Alphonse's brother. I've heard much about you. My name is Tiane Chang. I am here to escort you into Xing," the girl said to Edward, bowing in a proper and heartfelt Xing greeting.

"An escort? I've never had an escort before!" remarked Alphonse. "The first time I crossed the desert, I had two companions and the three of us nearly got lost! The second time, I was alone! And I get an escort now! You must be joking," the blonde boy laughed.

Tiane laughed as well as she motioned for the boys to follow her. She began to speak to them while walking. "Mei sent me to find you, Alphonse. You were supposed to return to your studies by now, according to her. She's really worried. It's just a really huge coincidence I ran into you and your brother on the border."

"She's going to have it out for me when I get to her," Al commented dully. "I should have wrote to her."

Meanwhile, Edward was lagging on their conversation. "What's your name?" he asked the girl. "Tea- ahh- n?"

Tiane began to giggle. "If it's that hard for you to say, you can call me 'Swan'. That's what my name means in your language."

Edward grumbled. "Yeah, whatever Swan. How old are you? You look you kind of young to be escorting two grown men across a desert."

Swan frowned angrily and crossed her arms. "For your information, I am thirteen years old. When Mei crossed the border - illegally, might I add - she was eleven, so I don't see why you're accusing me of being too young. And the only reason I was sent to be an 'escort' is because I'm Mei's childhood friend and I'm the only non-royal member of the Chang clan that can speak your language."

"Wait, I thought only royalty and their affiliates were taught the language of Amestris," said Ed, glancing at his brother.

"Yeah, same here! I never really thought about it. How did you learn our language, Tiane?" Unlike Ed, Al had no problem pronouncing the girl's Xingese name, so he opted to call her by her true name.

"Well, my father is an Amestrian, which makes me only half Xingese. That is why my hair is lighter than normal, and my eyes are dark brown instead of black or gray. That's why I was named 'Swan' by my mother, because I have lighter Xingese features, sort of like how swans are light colored birds. And for the little while I knew my father, he taught me your language."

The boys looked at the girl again and noticed that her features were indeed lighter than most Xingese people. Her eyes were also slightly less squinted. They wanted to know more about her mixed heritage, but at the same time they didn't want to pry into Tiane's family story. They knew very well what it was like to have a messed up family and not want to talk about it. Instead, they chose to silently follow their companion.

"So, Swan, how the hell do you know where you are going when there is nothing but sand everywhere!" yelled Edward after a few hours of quiet, peaceful journeying.

"Um, hello?" asked Tiane. She then wiggled her fingers in Ed's face. "Dragon's pulse! Don't you know anything about alkahestry? Mei told me that you were an alchemic genius."

"ALCHEMIC! NOT ALKAHESTRIST!" snapped Ed. "They're not the same thing!"

"She also said something about a hot temper," Tiane stated bluntly. "And that you hate being called short.

"GOD DAMNIT I AM NOT SHORT ANYMORE! YOU LITTLE UNDERAGE BRAT! DON'T CALL ME SHORT!"

"UNDERAGE! I AM THIRTEEN, OLDER THAN YOU WHEN YOU JOINED THE MILITARY. DON'T CALL _ME_ YOUNG!"

"Why," Alphonse whispered to himself. 'Why. Why. Why. Of all people to spend five days in a desert with, it had to be the guy sensitive about his height and the girl sensitive about her age."

* * *

><p>The trio arrived in Xing a day earlier than expected thanks to Tiane's pinpoint navigation and Alphonse's ability to alchemically create water and bread from sand (though the bread was very nasty) to give them more energy.<p>

Since Xing, unlike Amestris, has no border patrol, it was very easy for the group to enter the country. However, once they reached the borders of the Chang clan there were some issues. Tiane, being a member of the clan, was allowed in no questions asked. Alphonse could enter under due to the fact that he had written permission to enter from the Chang princess herself, Mei. However, Edward was not allowed into the clan's territory because he was an unknown outsider.

"Are you serious!" yelled Ed from the outside of the grounds. "I happen to be good friends with the emperor of Xing! He will hear about this, mark my words! Swan, can't you do something about this!"

"Yes, I can go get Mei to give you formal permission. You two stay here while I go get her."

After an excruciating half an hour waiting by the Chang Mountains, Mei Chang came with Tiane to let Edward in. However, before letting the long-haired boy in, she chose to attend to matters with Alphonse. The young princess ran up to the alchemist and squeezed him into a tight hug, after which she slapped him. Mei, who had grown a lot taller since Edward had last seen her, threw her hands upon her hips and unleashed a tirade of angry words upon Alphonse. A dull sense of longing cast a shadow over his heart as her mannerisms reminded him of Winry.

"Alphonse Elric! What is the matter with you! I was so worried! You should have been back a week ago! I thought something serious happened to you!" she shrieked, her high pitched voice reverberating through the area.

Uncharacteristically, Al said nothing to her. He simply looked at her with sad eyes that whispered "I'll explain everything later". Mei understood the silent pleading and looked over to Al's brother. She respectfully bowed to Ed in a traditional Xingese greeting. "Hello, Edward. It's a surprise to see you here. Where's Win-"

"So, I was thinking we should let Brother see some of the beauty of Xing," said Al, strategically preventing Mei from mentioning Winry.

Tiane realized that Al and Mei needed to talk about something, and Ed was in the way. She decided to step in and take one for the team, with the team being Mei. "I'll show Edward around the Chang province." She whisked around and pointed a finger at him. "Just don't make fun of my age."

"Uh, alright. See you guys later," said Edward was he waved bye to his brother and Mei before catching up to Tiane, who has already started walking away. Once they were out of earshot, Mei turned to Alphonse.

"What is going on? Is everything okay? Did something happen to Winry?" she asked him with rapid-fire speed.

Al didn't miss a beat. "Brother got cold feet and ran away on his wedding day."

"What! That heartless idiot!" Mei cried. "Poor Winry, she's probably heartbroken right now!" Tears of sympathy began to drip from her dark eyes, much to Al's dismay. "How could Edward do something like that! So horrible!"

Al frowned and shook his hands in panic. "Mei... don't say... stop crying... ugh," he said spastically. "I don't like it when girls cry."

"Sorry," she mumbled as she wiped her eyes. "But why would Edward do that?"

"I think the commitment freaks him out," said Al honestly. "Brother wanted to run away, and he confided in me before he did so. I wouldn't let him do it alone, though. I went with him. We've been a few places now, and everyone has expressed disapproval towards Brother's actions. Maybe soon Ed will realize just how many people this is affecting other than himself and Winry, and he'll fix things."

Mei raised an eyebrow. "You have this whole thing planned out, Alphonse?"

"I do." He spoke those two words with such firm conviction that Mei didn't question him further. She believed Al would make things right. Or rather, Al would lead Edward to make things right.

As they silently walked back to the royal tents of the Chang clan, Mei noticed the irony of the words Alphonse had used. They were the words Edward and Winry had meant to say to each other, but never did.

* * *

><p>"This. is. the. best. food. ever," announced Ed has he stuffed his face with various food that people from the Chang clan had brought for him to taste. Since Mei had won the Chang clan's favor in the eyes of the emperor, she had become a very respected member to her clan. In fact, she was probably the most respected member of the clan despite being only fifteen years old. According to her, her clan members were always giving her gifts and attention. And any friend of the princess was a friend of theirs, so the Elric brothers were subject to the same treatment they gave Mei. Edward had discovered this while touring the area with Tiane, as many people came up to him to thank him or to give him small gifts. "Do you live like this every day, Mei?"<p>

"Yes, every since Ling became emperor. " She then gasped. "Oh, Ling! Alphonse, you haven't met with him yet, right? Maybe we can travel to the Xing Palace soon to see him! I know he'd like to see you again, Edward."

Ed was too busy inhaling mu xu pork to respond.

"Does he always eat like this?" Mei whispered to Alphonse, who was seated next to her. Al looked up at his brother, nodded, and returned to his meal.

"Oh goodness, yes," said Tiane, still latching on to the previous topic of conversation. "They even give me some of that attention as well since I am her best friend. I don't understand it, since I'm not ranked high like Mei is."

"Being ranked high wasn't always the best thing ever, you know. The only reason it is now is because of Ling." Those words brought up unpleasant memories of the past, so the group continued eating until someone dared to peirce the silence.

Did you guys know that Edward is quite legendary here in Xing, Alphonse?" asked Tiane as she licked rice off of her chopstick. "When we were walking through the area, clan members kept approaching us and telling me that looks just like the Sage of the West of the ancient legends. And when I told them he used to be an alchemist working for the Amestrian government, they nearly fainted."

"That's not surprising. He does resemble the Sage of the West of the tales, with his long golden hair, golden eyes, and alchemic talent," said Mei.

"I've heard of that," muttered Alphonse. He was instantly taken back to memories of almost three years ago, when he finally met his father and spoke with him about his past. He learned a lot about his father that day... how he used to be a slave of an ancient kingdom, and then was turned into an immortal philosopher's stone by a homunculus. He thought of how his father traveled east and taught his version of alchemy to the people of Xing. Deep down, he believed that his father was the Sage of the West.

"Are you alright, Al?" asked Mei. Al was instantly aware of the entire table - save for his brother who was so into his food he was unaware of the conversation around him - staring at him.

"Uh, sorry, I just spaced out," he said calmly as he continued to eat his rice and beef.

"You know, Al," said Tiane, "you could be like the Sage of the West too, if you grew out your hair. If you did that you'd garner so much attention. You could compete with Ed for sure."

"I think I get enough of that already, just being a friend of Mei's," he commented.

Just then, Edward laid back in his chair and pushed his empty bowl away from him. "I'm so full. That was amazing!"

"You missed our whole conversation, didn't you?" asked Mei. Ed "We were talking about visiting the Grand Palace of Xing soon."

"Eh? Why would I want to go visit some fancy palace?"

"To visit Emperor Ling and Lan Fan, your friends."

At the mention of those names, Ed's eyes lit up. "I've missed them. Let's go see them as soon as possible. Tomorrow? Are we allowed to just randomly visit the emperor?"

"You are his friends and I am his sister, so I don't see why not. I'll make the arrangements right now!" Mei got up from her kneeling position - the Xingese way of dining - and skipped away happily. Before leaving the room, she turned back. "Tiane, will you be coming with us?"

Tiane shook her head. "No thanks. I have business to attend to here."

"Alright," hummed Mei. "Tomorrow, the three of us shall depart to the Imperial Palace of Xing!"


	5. Xing: The Imperial Palace

The trio of Edward, Alphonse, and Mei were all in high spirits as they woke up to prepare for their two-hour trip to the Imperial Palace. The three were able to eat a large and delicious breakfast before being dressed in the most comfortable clothes ever and sent off in some sort of Xingese carriage accompanied by two royal servants and foreign animals pulling the carriage. The only thing that hindered the trip was Mei trying to get Xiao May, her pet panda, to stay with Tiane rather than come to the palace with them. It took a while, but after begging and bribing Xiao May agreed to stay behind.

"Wow, Mei, you really live like a princess," remarked Edward.

"Please don't say that! As I told you yesterday, I didn't live like this until Ling took the throne. My clan used to be poor."

"So I'll take it you don't like living like this?"

"Kind of. The only reason I am treated like this is because my clan members insist on this. All I want is to be treated like I'm one of them, because that's what I am. However, if them treating me like this makes them happy, then that I okay with me. That's all I want, really… for them to be happy."

"That's very noble of you."

Mei's face beamed. "Really? You think so?"

Edward nodded his head honestly, which made Mei even happier. Although she lived a rich life full of luxury, attention and flattery, nothing meant more to her than genuine praise.

* * *

><p>The Imperial Palace of Xing was a sight to behold. Its splendor left both Ed and Al staring at it in awe for a few minutes, much to May's chagrin. "Come on, it's not <em>that<em> beautiful," whined Mei. "Let's goooooooooo."

The brothers would not budge. They wanted to take in every aspect of the place. The palace itself - a brilliant red dome with golden spires - wasn't all too great. It was the palace gardens that blew the place away. Every type of flower the boys have heard and many more they haven't was planted here. The huge spectrum of colors the flowers gave blended together perfectly and made some sort of rainbow canvas that gave the area life. Whoever designed this garden was clearly a master.

"Okay, maybe it is that beautiful. But we can look at it later, okay?" asked the frustrated princess. "We have to go in."

Getting the boys inside the castle wasn't the end of the task, however. They still had to be brought to the throne room. And since the two brothers stopped to observe every single piece of art that they encountered in the palace, it seemed as if it would take days to finally see the Emperor. The Imperial Palace contained thousands of artworks made and passed down through generations of Xing dynasties. It would be impossible to see everything, and Mei repeatedly reminded the boys of this fact.

"This place is like a museum!" announced Ed.

"Incredible," said Al, in a daze.

At that point, the young Princess grabbed both of them by the arm and dragged them to the throne room.

* * *

><p>One of the Imperial guards rushed into the magnificently decorated throne room. The room was completely made of white tile, with deep red velvet curtains all over the place. There were man-made creeks and waterfalls flowing over the edges of the room. The place where emperor Ling sat was almost completed covered with drapes in shades of red and purple – the national colors of Xing. If the person who designed the palace garden was a master, then the person who designed the throne room was a god.<p>

"Your Highness, you have guests."

Ling frowned. He hated doing official business; it was one of the downsides of being Emperor. "Who is it?"

"One of them is the Chang princess. The other two are unknown foreigners."

"Foreigners?" Ling thought aloud. "Send them in." He hated welcoming foreigners; he usually thought of them as a threat to his country. The only reason he was letting them in now was because of Mei. If she was with them, that either meant one of two things: they are very trustworthy or they are very dangerous and they were targeting Mei for her connection with Ling. It was no question that of Ling's dozens of siblings, Mei was his favorite. It was because she shared in his good hearted nature; she stayed in Amestris and helped fight on the Promised Day instead of letting Amestris fall into ruin by abandoning it to claim the throne of Xing. Ling secretly owned the throne to her; if she would have returned with the homunculus Envy she would have won it hands down.

But things ended differently and Ling won the throne. They day that he took the crown of Xing, he swore he would protect all of the clans of Xing. However, that promise ran deeper as he swore to himself that he would let nothing bad happen to either Lan Fan, his best friend and bodyguard, or Mei, his precious little sister. And if these two foreigners thought they could get to Ling through Mei, they were mistaken. Ling learned through the course of his childhood to never trust anyone upon first greeting, no matter who they were with.

"Presenting Her Highness, Princess Mei Chang and her two guests, Mr. Edward Elric and Mr. Alphonse Elric."

Upon hearing those last two names, Ling's eyes shot open. _Elric?_ Did he hear correctly? Emperor Ling slowly stood up from his throne to see the guests with his own eyes. The deep red and purple robes he wore swished angrily from the unforeseen motion. Sure enough, his eyes beheld two blond teenage boys, boys he instantly recognized as his dearest friends that he hasn't seen in almost three years. His previous thoughts of foreigners and distrust were thrown out of his mind. He trusted these two boys, these two _foreigners_, more so than he trusted his own royal guards.

Meanwhile, all of the royal guards in the room gasped. The emperor _never_ rose from his chair to greet visitors. It was simply not done..

"Elrics? I can't believe it!" Ling's smile nearly took up his whole face and his eyes were reduced to slits. When the trio finally made their way to where Ling was standing, all four of them were wearing the same huge, goofy smile. Mei bowed respectfully to Ling, which Ed and Al awkwardly followed. Ling bowed in return (which was usually not done) and shook hands with Ed and Al.

"It's great to see you two! I can't believe it has been so long. You've gotten taller, Ed," Ling remarked.

Edward frowned. "Yeah, and your eyes are less squinty."

"You haven't changed a bit," Ling stated with a laugh. He was the only one who laughed, which brought about a feeling of awkwardness in the room. Ling then noticed that all of his guards were watching their every move. They were watching Ed and Al very carefully, not because they didn't trust them, but because they were strange. It was a rare sight to see foreigners in the throne room, and even rarer for them to be so accepted by the emperor. "Guards, I request a private audience with these gentlemen and the princess, if you don't mind."

"Yes, my Imperial Lord," they chanted as they all turned to leave.

"Oh, can someone send for Lan Fan?" he asked.

"Yes, my Imperial Lord."

Once all the guards left, Ed and Al visibly loosened up. Edward sneered, "Well, looks like someone is enjoying being Emperor."

"After three years, I'm used to it. I'd rather not be waited on like this, but it is tradition, you know."

Light-footed footsteps could be heard entering the room. "You called for me, my Lord?" The voice was regal and pleasant to the ears, submissive yet authoritative. It was the unmistakable voice of Lan Fan, Ling's personal bodyguard, most trusted advisor, and best friend. The second she saw Ed and Al, she froze. "Edward? Alphonse? Is that you?"

"Hey Lan Fan," said Al. Ed smiled and waved.

She blinked a few times before allowing herself to smile, which was a little strange considering the time the Elrics spent with her in Amestris, they have only seen her serious side. "I haven't seen you two in years? How have you been?"

"We've been great. After you two left Amestris, the government was destroyed and rebuilt without all of the corruption. Now our country is better than ever. How have you been?"

"Better than ever. Life has improved since the Young Lord ascended to the throne. He has done so much for the country. And I'm used to my automail arm now. The engineers here aren't as good as the ones in Amestris, but I manage."

"Speaking of the country," interjected Ling, "I need some opinions from you two." He glanced around the room. "Lan Fan, is there a room in this palace where I can be certain the only people to hear me will be the people now present in this room?"

"Well of course, my Lord. There's a meeting room used for private foreign affairs. It's completely sealed and you can only get in with an automated code."

Ling blinked, his black eyes revealing the confusion he felt. "I don't know the code."

"I do," answered Lan Fan.

Ling sighed. "What would I do without you, Lan Fan?"

"You'd be a prisoner in your own palace."

* * *

><p>"Ling, how come Lan Fan knows more about the palace than you do?" asked Mei after the five of them were able to seal themselves in the conference room.<p>

"He _should _know these things. But thankfully I'm usually always with the Young Lord and I pay attention to things more closely than he does," Lan Fan answered for him.

"Yeah, yeah," said Ling, waving his hand dismissively. "I want to discuss some things with Edward and Alphonse."

Lan Fan gasped. "Is this abou-"

"Yes," said Ling sharply, cutting her off. "Elrics. Who is the current Fuhrer of Amestris?"

"His name is Fuhrer Grumman. He was the General of Eastern Command," answered Ed.

"How would you two feel if he changed the government completely?"

"Well," said Al, "if it's for the better, I wouldn't mind."

"Why are you asking us this?" asked Ed.

"I'm thinking of changing the government of Xing," he answered. "I want to change the way the monarchy is done. Both Mei and I can vouch that it is tough growing up as a son or daughter of the emperor. Your father pretty much disowns you and you have to fight to stay alive, much less win the throne."

Lan Fan nodded. "I can also vouch for you."

Ling continued. "I know if I change the government, I will be hated by many people. The richer clans already look down upon me for treating all clans equally. My own clan has disowned me; they think I've betrayed them by embracing all of the clans. They revoked the honor they bestowed upon me when I become emperor when they found out I have been aiding the other clans." Ling sighed. "It's hard doing the right thing. I'm sure you brothers know that as well."

"Do we ever!" yelled Ed. "I would still have the ability to perform alchemy. But it was all for the better," he responded, glancing at Alphonse.

"But your story seems the hardest... being disowned by your family and clan. I'm sorry," said Al.

"Well, it's not all so bad. I've been embraced by the poorer half of the country; 25 clans are on my side. They sent me new guards when the Yao clan refused to have their guards protecting me. I also have Mei, who means a lot to me. And most importantly, I have Lan Fan. Her family has also disowned her for sticking by my side." Ling looked at his body guard. "It means the world to me that she stayed."

"Grandfather would have stayed by your side too," reminded Lan Fan sadly. "And how could I leave you? It was my wish for you to protect all of the clans. To abandon you would be to abandon myself."

"How exactly do you plan on changing the government?" asked Ed, sticking to the root of the conversation.

Ling folded his hands and placed them under his chin. "If I keep things the same, pretty soon the chief of each clan will start sending me their daughters to marry once they come of age. To my knowledge, the oldest daughter of this generation is twelve, and she belongs to the Han clan. So I have a four year time frame to change things. So far, the only person who knows my plans for this country to the full extent is Lan Fan. But I trust you three. Okay?"

Mei, Edward, and Alphonse all nodded and set their eyes upon Ling. "I would like to unite the clans as well, but at this point in time that would do nothing but start a war. So I decided upon a different approach. I was thinking about abolishing the whole fifty wives thing. What I'm planning is that I put the clans on a sort of rotation. I will hand pick my successor from a certain clan, than that successor will pick one from another clan, and the rotation will continue over and over. Get what I'm saying?"

"That system could corrupt very easily," remarked Edward.

Ling's squinted eyes opened slightly. "More easily than the current system?"

"I see what you are saying. You want to change Xing from a monarchy to a dictatorship." said Al. "The emperor role will stay in place, but the prince and princess roles will cease to exist. So if you have children, they won't be princes because they essentially will not have any power."

"I guess," said Ling uncertainly. "I didn't really think it through to that degree yet." He rubbed the back of his head with his hand. "When you put it that way, it sounds so politically correct. And I'm not really a political person."

"And yet you are the emperor of one of the heaviest populated countries in the world," remarked Ed. Ling shrugged.

"What about the clans?" asked Mei. "How will they be governed?"

"Essentially the same as now. The chief will still serve as an ambassador for his or her clan. However, they will not have to send their daughters to the emperor, and will not have royal grandchildren who will rise above them in rank. They will govern their own clan, and that governing will be passed down hereditarily."

"My lord, I hope you understand that by eliminating the need for royal concubines, you a severing an important tie with each of the clans. This increases the chances of clan rebelling or seceding," said Lan Fan, brining up a previously unthought-of of point.

"I understand that. If a clan wishes to recede, let them. I will wish them luck getting recognized by other countries. I will also remind them that their clan will be taken out of the emperor rotation and they will never get the change to rule the powerful country of Xing and have their clan represented. Also, I will remind them that since I have helped the poorer clans of Xing, they now have stronger armies that are extremely loyal to me. If those facts don't faze them, let them secede or rebel. I'll have no problem showing them who they are dealing with."

Ed leaned back in his chair. "After hearing that mini speech, I have nothing to say. Despite what your clan thinks, I think you are a fine emperor. You put your people ahead of your own needs. You even put your country as a whole above your family and clan. That's the mark of a true leader."

"Well, thanks Ed," said Ling, smiling hugely. "I think I've said everything I've needed to say. I'm grateful for your support. Now we can talk about you brothers. What brings you two to Xing?"

"Well you see Ling," said Al, leaning forward as he grasped the opportunity to speak, "I've actually been here for a few months studying alkahestry with Mei in the Chang clan. I left recently and came back with Brother. We decided to pay you a visit." He chose not to mention any of the Winry drama. It seemed as if Ling had enough to deal with.

"I guess that means you'll have to stay the night!" Ling announced suddenly

"What? We weren't asking-" pleaded Al.

"Lan Fan, can you let us out of here?"

Lan Fan nodded and opened the secured door. The five teens exited the room. Once Lan Fan resealed it, Ling began to clap. Immediately, five guards rushed to Ling's side.

"Yes, my Imperial liege? How can we assist you?"

"These two are dear friends of mine. They hail from Amestris and they played important roles in helping me ascend to the throne. Please give the two of them the most lavish rooms available and treat them with the highest respect," said Ling, gesturing to Ed and Al. "And please give the Chang princess the same treatment as these two."

"Yes, Emporer Ling," said the guards. "We shall prepare the rooms immediately." The guards rushed away.

"Well I'll be damned," muttered Ed as he watched the guards retreat. Al elbowed him in the ribs.

"So, how do you two like Xing?" asked Lan Fan.

"This place is beautiful and the food is delicious," answered Ed. Al nodded in agreement. "Of course, I've only tasted the food from the Chang area."

"If you think Chang clan food is delicious, wait until you taste some of our food." Right on cue, Ling's stomach began to rumble. "Lunch, anyone?" he asked. Everyone laughed.

* * *

><p>After what was probably the best meal of both Ed's and Al's lives, the group decided to take a walk through the royal gardens. Well, the group minus Ed and Al. The amazing meal left the two brothers tired, so they retreated to their rooms for a midday nap at the request of the Emperor.<p>

Mei seemed to be enjoying the garden most of all, especially the roses. Every since she was reunited with Alphonse and he brought her pink roses, the flowers always filled her with happiness since they made her think of him. And right now was no exception; images of the strapping blonde boy flooded the girl's mind.

"I'm kind of jealous that you get to live in a place as beautiful as this," said Mei as she observed a particular flower she had never before seen. "This flower is interesting." The flower was very bushy, and was soft pink in color. It looked like rose that was stuck in a violent sandstorm. It reminded her of Edward. A gentle rose, like Alphonse, blown around by the winds of stubbornness and aggression, which was Edward. She briefly wondered if Edward had ever given Winry roses.

"That's a peony," replied Lan Fan. "They are quite common in the Yao area."

Mei froze. "Do you miss it there? In the Yao clan?" Ling and Lan Fan spoke at the same time, but had different answers. Drastically different answers. "Um, I guess Lan Fan can go first," she decided.

"If by home you mean the Yao clan, no," answered Lan Fan. She was still wearing her bodyguard outfit, but she had at least taken off her mask. Ling had encouraged her to feel the warm afternoon sunlight on at least one part of her body. " I spent my whole life protecting the Yao royal family; and more particularly, Ling. And I'm still here protecting Ling. So as long as I am with him, I am home."

Mei gasped and folded her hands, her eyes sparkling with admiration as they stared into Lan Fan's. "That was so sweet!" squealed the young girl.

Lan Fan blushed. "Um... it wasn't supposed to be..." she said softly.

Apparently, Mei was the only one who felt the sweetness of those words. Ling didn't feel it either, apparently, as sat through the whole scene with a large frown on his face. "I miss the Yao clan. I miss my family. It hurts me to think of how quickly my own family turned their backs on me because I decided to help out other families as well. I feel dishonored to come from a selfish clan. But then I think of myself, Lan Fan, and Fu, and realize not all Yao clansmen are selfish. And those are the ones that make a difference. But it still hurts."

"Ling, I never knew your family disowned you until today," responded Mei. "You talked about it in our private meeting, but I didn't interject. But now.. I feel like I have to. I'm really sorry that you had to sacrifice so much just to make other clans happy. But I thank you from the bottom of my heart. If you ever need a family, you and Lan Fan can come to the Chang clan. You'd receive the warmest of welcomes..."

"I'd like that. Thank you, Mei," said Ling gratefully. Lan Fan smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Just not while Ed and Al are here!," she quipped suddenly. "My clan is already lavishing _them_ with gifts and praise because they know that those brothers helped you become emperor. If the emperor himself sets foot in the Chang area... well, they'd go crazy."

"I don't mind waiting," said Ling happily, his eyes reduced to slits as they usually did when he smiled.

"Hey, guys!" called someone from behind them. The three turned to see Alphonse, directed by a guard, hurriedly walking to the group.

"Oh, hi, Alphonse!" beamed Mei. "Where's Edward?"

"Sleeping still. You know how he is when he sleeps."

"I thought that was only because he was sleeping for your body," answered Ling.

"You would think!" exclaimed Alphonse. Everyone busted out into laughter.

* * *

><p>"So, how long are you two planning on staying in Xing?" asked Ling as their walk through the garden neared its end.<p>

"Well, we were given a two week all expense paid trip by General Armstrong, so we'll probably stay to the end of those weeks," responded Al.

"As emperor, I can fund for you to stay in this country as long as you want. You know that right? Mei can also allow you to stay, but Mei's permission only covers the Chang area. Mine covers the whole country.

"I know all of that! It's just... we need to go back home. We have some unfinished business there."

Mei drew in a breath when Ling's squinted eyes opened in curiosity. It wasn't the actual words that attracted Ling's attention, but the shady tone Alphonse was using. "Unfinished business?" asked Ling. "Don't tell me you two are getting in trouble again. I thought once your body was restored you were going to take it easy!"

"We _were_," Alphonse argued, raising his voice angrily. "My brother had to be his stubborn self and mess things up. He decided to run away from home. And being the good brother that I am, I stuck with him to take care of him." Realizing he was practically shouting, Alphonse sighed. "I feel as if I have told this story ten times already," he said gently.

"What happened?" asked Lan Fan. Al proceeded to explain to them the events, minus a few details, of the time between now and when Ed and Al first ran away from Resembool.

When Al finished his story, Ling began to laugh, much to the bewilderment of everyone else. "That's so much like Ed. Don't worry; he'll realize that he is being an idiot and return home."

"Yeah, in about five years," said Al.

"Winry is a beautiful girl. Soon Ed will realize that if he doesn't marry her, another man will."

Al pondered the prospect of Winry marrying another man. He pictured the future family gatherings... Granny, himself, Brother, Winry... and another man. His eyes widened in fear as he imagined the awful fights or forced friendship that would occur between Edward and Winry's husband. It would tear the family apart, no doubt. Ed and Winry's relationship would be severed and Al would be caught in the middle. Al couldn't imagine having to divide his time between his brother and Winry. The three of them were always one item. He realized the only way to preserve that item was for Edward and Winry to marry.

"No." muttered Alphonse. "That can't happen. It won't." Winry wouldn't, _couldn't_ marry another man. While most people couldn't see it, Al knew that Edward and Winry were madly in love. He could tell by the way they pretended to not be in love; it was the mark of their deep, stubborn love for each other. He couldn't imagine either of them being with anyone else. They fit together so well.

Al realized, at that moment, that he could not stay in Xing any longer. He needed to find someone to get Edward to go back to Winry... and someone who could do it _instantly_. He needed someone who has been with many women. Someone who knows what it is like to not know the love of one woman, but the shallow affections of many; the life Edward would be doomed to if he did not return to Winry.

It was then that Al realized exactly who Ed needed to talk to.

_General Roy Mustang._


	6. Xing: Stalling

"You know, you could spend another day here," said Ling as he and Lan Fan stood outside of the palace, bidding farewell to Mei, Al, and Ed. There were also about thirty guards watching them, but most of them kept at a respectable distance.

"We already spent one night here," said Alphonse impatiently. "I want to get back home. There's someone I want to see that could help, you know, the situation." The last parts were whispered so that Ed, who was standing nearby, would not hear them.

"Try not to be such strangers, okay?" pleaded Lan Fan. "Can you visit more often? Perhaps once a year?" she asked the brothers loudly.

"Sure," said Edward as he walked closer to the group. "You two take care of yourselves and this country, okay?" He shook both of their hands goodbye. Alphonse did the same. Mei, however, bowed politely tooth of them and gave each of them a heartfelt hug.

"Take care," said Lan Fan.

As they said their last goodbyes and parted, Ling called out something to them. "Next time you brothers come around, I expect your party to be a little bit bigger!" Edward knit is golden eyebrows together in confusion, but Mei and Alphonse knew exactly what Ling meant.

* * *

><p>Alphonse and Edward had left most of their possessions in the Chang clan, so it was necessary to return there before leaving Xing. As usual, once they entered the area they were showered with praise. One woman even shoved her baby in front of Edward, as if him holding her child for a few seconds would grant the child some sort of ability.<p>

They were quickly escorted to the royal area of the clan, where Tiane and Xiao May were waiting for them. They both bowed in greeting of the trio, and Xiao May flung herself onto Mei as quickly as possible. Mei giggled.

"I don't mean to be rude, Tiane, but Brother and I are leaving Xing right now."

Tiane blinked a few times. "Well, I assume you haven't heard that nobody can leave Xing right now. There's a sandstorm right now in the desert. You'd die if you tried crossing."

"What!" yelled Alphonse. "That can't be!" He stamped his foot onto the ground. "Ugh, this is SO not fair!" Ed, observing Al's mini-tantrum, laughed to himself. It was a rare sight to see Al get angry. He was usually the one to throw a fit, not Al.

Tiane grimaced and glanced at the two brothers. "Did you two switch bodies or something?" At that comment, Ed stopped laughing and looked to his younger sibling to see his response.

"No!" yelled Alphonse. "It's just... sorry. I'm a little impatient right now."

"Why do you want to leave so quickly anyway, Al?" asked Ed.

"I want to see General Mustang."

Ed frowned and gave an angry sigh. "Why him?"

"You'll see."

Ed folded his arms. "I don't like it when you keep secrets from me, Al. Especially when they are about Mustang."

"Sorry, Brother. You'll find out soon."

Suddenly, light yet quick steps filled the room, blocking out all of the sound. Suddenly Mei was sprinted towards them, her Xingese dress and elegant braid flying behind her. "Youguyscan'tleaveifyoudoyouwilldie!" she screamed unintelligibly.

"Come again?" said Al.

"You guys can't leave! There's a sandstorm! If you do you'll inhale the sand and drown!"

"Tiane just told us this," said Ed.

"Oh.." said Mei, trying hard to hide her smile of satisfaction. "Well, I guess we can practice some alkahestry, then?" she asked Al.

As they began to converse about alkahestry, Tiane leaned in next to Edward. "You've _got_ to watch them practice."

"Why?" he whispered back.

"They argue the whole time. It's hilarious."

* * *

><p>"That was not alkahestry! That was alchemy!" yelled Mei. "If that was alkahestry I would have felt you tap into the energy of the earth! Ugh! Maybe you're just not capable of alkahestry."<p>

"I _am_ tapping into the energy of the Earth!" Al yelled back. He took the beautifully crafted sand dragon he made and destroyed it in his hands, letting the sand fall back into the circle. The group had left the royal area of the Chang capital to go to a clearing in the Chang jungle where Mei and Al frequently practiced. Obvious, from Al's efforts, he was not getting far with alkahestry.

"No you aren't! You're using energy from the Earth's crust built up from tectonic movement! Alkahesty is used by using chi energy! That's the problem! You keep thinking with alchemy! Alkahestry is a whole new principle!."

Mei growled and made a transmutation circle a few feet away from the one Al was using. "The only way to transmute something from your circle into mine is by using the Dragon's Pulse of chi energy. It's impossible to do this with alchemy. Good luck."

"That's cold," said Tiane while laughing. She glanced over at Ed, but he was not laughing. Instead, he was watching Al and Mei with a sad expression. Their lovable arguments reminded him of Winry.

Al bent over and placed his hands on the transmutation circle, which Mei referred to as a "purification array" as it was called in alkahestry, and closed his eyes in concentration. Ed couldn't help but feel some pride at seeing how dedicated his younger brother looked, and wondered if he himself looked like that before he lost his alchemic abilities.

Suddenly blue sparks of reaction flew from Al's circle and Mei's. The pile of excess sand in Al's circle slowly disappeared into the earth and reappeared in Mei's. Al stood up, observed his work, and frowned. "I was trying to make a bird," he noted dully.

He didn't have time to feel upset for long, however, as Mei tackled him the ground with a hug. She had a huge smile on her face. "Al! You did it! You used the Dragon's pulse! You used alkahestry!"

Al smiled and looked Mei straight in the eyes. "And you said I wasn't capable," he taunted.

Mei looked into his deep, golden eyes and felt butterflies in her stomach. "I take it back," she whispered. She held her gaze into Alphonse's eyes. She never realized how stunning they were. In Xing, nearly everyone had black or gray eyes (or in rare cases like Tiane's, dark brown). And here was Al, with his golden eyes. As she looked more deeply into them, she realized they had a hint of green in them. She thought back to all of the conversations she had with Al and remembered him saying that he looked a lot like his mother. Mei tried to visualize Ed's and Al's mother, and wondered if she was as attractive as Al.

Tiane, the savior of social situations, realized what was happening. "Hey, I'm going to go check on something and I'm bringing Ed with me," she called as she grabbed Ed's arm and whisked him away.

"Hey, what are you doing you-!" Ed yelled angrily at her as he attempted to break free.

"Shhhhh! I'll explain everything if you just follow me."

"Whatever, Swan. Xingese girls are so weird." Tiane could only roll her eyes.

Meanwhile, back by Mei and Al, things were heating up. The two were still staring into each other's eyes, and have been for nearly a minute now. The only sounds were their rhythmic breathing and the cicadas buzzing in the trees, signaling the sun would soon set.

"Alphonse... you have the prettiest eyes," she whispered softly. She slowly closed her eyes and let the image of Al's face fade from her mind as it now took in the feeling of his lips against hers. Her first kiss. When Al pulled away after a few moments, Mei was so speechless she could only mutter "aiyo".

"...what was that?" asked Al, clearly confused. He was frowning, but his eyes were shining bright with happiness.

"..oh, sorry!" Mei could feel blush burning on her cheeks. "That was an exclamation in Xingese... I guess you have that effect on me," she said sheepishly. She looked away from Alphonse, embarrassed.

She heard the sound of loud, familiar clapping and looked up to see Al holding two roses, one in each hand. One was red, the other was pink. "A pink rose for you, your favorite color," he told her, as he handed her the pink rose. "And a red rose for you, the color of romance." He gave her the red rose. Mei was so stunned; all she could do was lean in and kiss Al on the cheek, a gesture that caused him to smile.

After a few moments of blissful silence. Mei turned to Al. "How many girls have you done this with before, Alphonse?"

The questions startled him, but he answered, "None. It's not easy getting girls when you're a suit of armor."

The couple laughed. "Then how do you know exactly how to win a girl's heart?" she asked him.

He looked at her face, her eyes, and saw the honestly within them. He smiled. "It comes naturally," he answered.

"Maybe you should teach your brother."

* * *

><p>Tiane and Edward had returned to the capital some time earlier, with Tiane explaining the situation to Edward. He was surprised, needless to say. Apparently, was he took as a tackle and a staring contest was actually the intro to a romantic display. He felt like an idiot.<p>

Sometime later Al and Mei returned to the capital walking hand and hand, with Mei's free hand clasped tightly to the two roses. Whistles and applauds came from the street as they noticed two were showing affection. When they arrived in the royal residence of Xing, they went into Mei's living section (which was where the four of they were staying; Mei's quarters were the size of a large house) and into the kitchen. A little while later they were joined by Tiane and Edward for the evening meal. They ate in peaceful silence until Ed threw out a random question.

"Hey, Al," said Ed, eyeing the two roses that Mei kept a firm hold on. "Where did you learn to be so good with the ladies?"

"Equivalency. You have higher intelligence so I have better womanizing skills." Al shot back. Ed wasn't sure if it was an insult or a compliment.

"Oh please. I happen to have amazing womanizing skills."

Tiane snickered. "You're kidding, right!"

"No, I'm not. I am engaged to be married, you know," he said.

"Oh please," she laughed.

"He's telling the truth," said Al. Tiane gasped and looked at Mei, who nodded in agreement. To prevent Tiane from having a heart attack, Mei explained the whole story to her.

"Of course," she commented after hearing everything. She then waved her chopstick at Ed. "You're so clueless."

Ed mumbled angrily and shoved food into his mouth, ignoring everyone's presence.

* * *

><p>In the middle of the night, while everyone was asleep, Al snuck out onto the balcony. It was something he did quite often during his months in Xing. For some reason, the night sky of Xing had a calming effect on him. Since there are no lights littering the area like in Amestris, the full splendor of the night sky could be seen. The moon, large and brilliant, was complemented by thousands of tinier lights, varying in brightness and size.<p>

"Hey, there," whispered a soft and youthful voice. The voice was very familiar to Al, but it caused him to jump anyway.

"Mei! Don't startle me like that, please!" said Al, exhaling deeply.

"Sorry," apologized the princess of Chang as she sat next to him. "I just couldn't sleep."

"Neither could I." Both of them looked away from each other, not knowing how to continue the conversation. Al wasn't used to having his private time invaded, and Mei wasn't used to being up so late.

After a few uncomfortable seconds, Mei spoke. "Do you have to go so soon?"

Al hesitated, but then decided to answer her honestly. "I'm sorry, Mei. But after what Ling told me yesterday became embedded in my head, I can't think of anything else but Ed and Winry getting married as soon as possible. I thought of all of the things that could happen if they don't get married, and to be honest... I'm scared of the possibitlies."

"You're crazy. How bad could it be?"

"If Winry doesn't marry my brother, she'll marry some other man. Ling made me realize this. Winry.. well, she's the marrying type. I can't see her _not_ getting married. Once she finds that other man, he'll be living with her. He'll be at all of the family events. And since Brother and I are pretty much part of their family, we'll be seeing him a lot."

"What's wrong with that?"

"You know how Ed is! He'll get jealous. He won't be able to put aside his feelings for Winry. I know he has them, Mei. They may get significantly weaker if she marries another man, but they will always be there, putting a strain on the family. He and Ed will get into many fights... tear the family apart.."

"It sounds to me like you are afraid Winry may marry someone Ed doesn't like. If that's the case... why don't _you_ marry Winry?"

Al's expression contorted into a mix of horror and amusement. "Me? Are you serious? No way! There's so many things wrong with that!"

"Like what?" asked Mei, turned her head quickly to let out a small sigh of relief; being reassured that Al had no romantic interest in Winry made her feel happy.

"Well, first of all, she reminds me too much of Ed; marrying her would be like marrying my brother." Al shuddered at the thought. "Second of all, I know that Ed really cares about her. Me marrying her would be putting a severe rift in our relationship. That's the last thing I want. Ed means so much to me. I can't lose him." Al turned to Mei and sighed. "What should I do?"

"I think you are being paranoid and over thinking this. Do what feels right."

"What feels right is me going to see Mustang and getting this mess over with."

"If that's what you want, then I will support you."

* * *

><p>The next morning, after receiving confirmation that the sand storm had come to a rest, the two brothers were able to set out after a good night's rest. The members of the Chang clan were sad to see the Elrics leave and waved goodbye to them as they were escorted out of Xing by Mei, Xiao May, and Tiane. Once they reached the Xing border, Ed and Tiane began to argue about their usual topics: Ed's short height and Tiane's young age. Xiao May sat on the ground laughing at the stubborn teenagers' antics. Al and Mei saw this as a golden opportunity to get in a few private parting words.<p>

"Alphonse, can you promise me two things?"

"Sure, Mei. Anything."

"Promise me you'll be back for my coming of age ceremony? It's when I turn sixteen, in ten months."

"Of course. What's the other thing?"

"I have a request for you to do something before you go see Mr. Mustang. You may not like it."

Al frowned slightly. "What is it?"

"I realized yesterday that alkahestry is hard for you to learn because you keep applying it to alchemy. And it's worse that I can't stop you from applying alchemy because I know nothing about alchemy in order to properly teach you. I realized last night that you need to learn the basics of alkahestry from someone who knows both alchemy and alkahestry. I want to you to visit Mr. Scar in Ishval."

"What!" Al yelled. "Are you crazy? He tried to kill Bro-" Mei silenced Al with a quick kiss on the lips.

"I know you don't trust him, but he's changed. Please visit him. Just for a few hours. Here, I have a letter. Please give this to him when you find him."

"Okay," said Al unsurely. "I'll discuss it with Brother on the trip back. We'll go together."

"That was my intent." Mei gazed at Al sadly, not wanting to say goodbye. "Be safe, okay?"

"I'll miss you," said Al reassuringly, grabbing the top of her head and wrapping Mei in a tight hug. "Goodbye... for now."

Al turned to see his brother smiling and waiting for him. With one last wave and goodbye to Mei, Tiane, and the clearly upset Xiao May, the brothers headed off to the desert.

The trip was silent and peaceful. Both Elrics were determined to get as far as possible, but two had to take a break after three and a half hours of walking due to tiredness – mostly on Al's part.

"Hey, Al?" asked Ed while they relaxed.

"Yes?" mumbled Al, who was lying face down in the sand. This was his fourth time making the desert trek, but to him it never got any easier.

"You know those words you told Mei before you left?"

"Um.. I guess, why?"

"Those were the exact same words I told Winry before I left on my journey to the West." Alphonse sat up to try and see Ed's facial expression and found his older brother sitting down, leaning against his suitcase, and staring up at the endless blue sky.

"They sky... it reminds me of her eyes," he murmured.


	7. The Desert

After making a fair headway in their journey, the brothers stopped for the night as the sun began to set. Ed set up the tent for sleeping while Al prepared a fire and some food. Mei had sent a great deal of food, so they boys ate a lot.

While eating, Al finally decided to ask the question. "Brother? Is it alright if we go to Ishval before seeing Mustang?"

"Why would you want to go there?"

"Mei wants me to see Scar."

Edward nearly choked on his food at that comment. "What!"

"I know. That was my reaction too. Mei made me promise to see him for a least a few hours. I didn't want to do it. But now, after spending the day thinking about how he helped us on the Promised Day, I feel we _should_ visit him."

Edward yawned. "Okay, Al. If that's what you want then there is no point in arguing with you. I'm really tired so I'm going to go to sleep. Goodnight."

"Night," replied Al as he fumbled with the paper Mei had given him. He began to read the letter Mei wrote to scar.

_Dear Mr. Scar,_

_Just to let you know, I have received your letter but this is not a response to that letter. Instead, I must ask a favor. As I have mentioned, Alphonse Elric has been practicing alkahestry here in Xing with me. However, he is having difficulty understanding it because he keeps on approaching the principles of alkahestry by comparing them with alchemy. He needs to be taught the differences between the two arts rather than comparing them. Unfortunately, I lack the proper alchemical knowledge to help Al with this problem. I know that you have a vast knowledge of the basic principles of both alchemy and alkahestry. I was wondering if you could spend a few hours helping Al out. _

_You don't have to do this for me. I don't know what your feelings about the Elric brothers, but it would mean the world to me if you helped Alphonse._

_Honorfully,_

_Princess Chang of Xing, Mei_

It was undeniable that those two had a connection. Al could always see it when the two were together in Amestris, but by reading this letter, Al could feel how deep that connection ran.

And he would never understand it.

* * *

><p>At dawn, the Elric brothers were up and ready for another day of traveling. After a quick meal and a slight divergence of course so that they'd end up Ishval instead of Youswell, Al could tell that something was bothering Ed. He was sluggish in his movements (even with his under-maintained automail) and had a weary look in his eyes. "Is there something wrong, Brother?"<p>

Ed was shocked for a moment, but then answered Al. "Being in the desert reminds me of Hohenheim."

"Oh" was all Al could say. He knew talking about his father was difficult, especially for Ed, who had mixed feelings about him.

"Because of that I dreamed about the aftermath Promised Day last night. It was like all of the memories were replaying in my head."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Al figured asking this question was a lost cause because Ed was the type to keep things bottled up and not tell anyone so that he wouldn't worry them. However, if he really needed to talk someone, his faithful brother was usually the one he went to. Nobody knew Ed better than Al. Not even Winry.

"..I'd like that," admitted Ed.

* * *

><p><strong>F L A S H B A C K<strong>

"I've examined each of these boys, as requested."

"And what is their condition?"

"The older one can be released tonight. He has a blunt puncture wound that has gone completely through his left arm which needs to be cleaned out and bandaged immediately. He also has various metal shards in his right shoulder embedded within scar tissue; those will have to be removed. He has many scrapes and bruises but nothing serious; he has no broken bones or internal bleeding. The younger one, however, will have to be placed in intensive care for a few weeks."

"He is alright?"

"Somewhat. He is stable, but his body is severely dehydrated and starved. I have never seen a more severe case of malnutrition before. He also has severe muscular atrophy. He cannot walk on his own in his state. He is very weak. He must be kept here because for his body's immune system is too weak to fight off any diseases outside."

"I understand. Where are they now?"

"The older one is getting fixed as we speak. He will be released in a few hours or so. The younger is in ICU, currently sleeping. He is hooked up to three different intravenous systems at this moment and his vitals are constantly monitored."

"That's great. May I see them?

"The older one only. Would you like me to take you to him?"

"Yes, please."

Major Armstrong, beaten and bandaged himself, put the Elric brothers at a higher priority than himself. He personally saw that they were admitted to the hospital. Due to his rank, he was able to get a highly certified nurse to perform in depth physicals on both of the boys and get a referral to a renowned doctor.

"This is the room." The Major knocked politely and slowly entered the room. There, a teenage boy with messy blonde hair was sitting up while his left arm was being bandaged.

"Major!" yelled the boy angrily, "Why couldn't you have waited a bit before signing me into the hospital! I have things to do!"

"Would you rather help people in your weakened state, or help them when you've recovered?" the Major taunted.

"Hmph. Where's Al?"

"He's in Intensive Care."

"WHAT! Take me to see him, now! Is he alright? Why is he there!"

"Hey, relax, kid," snapped the nurse bandaging Edward. She pulled on Ed's arm tightly.

"Edward, your brother is fine. He needs to be monitored constantly because his body is so weak."

"Damn," muttered Ed. His face displayed signs of guilt and worry, though he tried to mask them with his usual determination. "I'm going to go see him once everything has been taken care of."

* * *

><p>Edward's plans to set out after being fixed were thwarted by he and Al's doctor, who insisted he get a full night's sleep and recover before setting out. Angrily, Edward accepted this offer, but somehow slept a full sixteen hours - <em>two<em> full nights of sleep. The next morning, after throwing a fit for sleeping so long, Edward went downstairs to visit Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye. He felt that he owed them a visit.

"Ah, Fullmetal. Welcome," said Mustang from his bed. He seemed to be in good condition, the only thing needing attention being his punctured hands, which were rendered useless with bandages. Hawkeye, on the other hand, didn't look so well. She was completely pale, had bandages covering her neck and shoulder completely, and was hooked up to a IV which pumped blood back into her system. Despite that, she was smiling and her eyes held the same strict compassion they always held.

"How did you know it was me? You're blind!" Hawkeye laughed at Ed's comment.

"Please. I can tell from your quick and angry footsteps," said Roy. Edward crossed his arms. "Besides, Fullmetal, I won't be blind much longer."

"What! That's impossible! How?" Ed gasped.

"Dr. Marcoh has a philosopher's stone. He's going to use it to heal Havoc, and then myself."

"You can't do that!" Ed shouted. Riza shushed him harshly, prompting Ed to continue his tirade on at a lower volume. "Do you know what those stones are made of? Human souls! You can't use human souls like that!"

Roy sighed and shook his head. "Fullmetal, the stone has already been made. The lives used to make the stone are lost. So, what should I do? Let the stone - and souls - go to waste? Or use the lost souls to give me back my vision and let my subordinate walk again, so that we may fix this broken country?"

Ed's mouth – already cocked and ready for his retort – hung open in shock. After a few moments of recovery, Ed was able to admit defeat. "I guess you have a point, Colonel," said Ed begrudgingly. He sighed. "I guess I should tell you why I am here. I have come to warn you that I plan on resigning from the military once you heal."

Roy frowned. "I expected this much. I know you hate being a dog of the military Ed, but you don't have to resign. Now that corruption has been overthrown, our military is being fixed. You will no longer be a dog of the military, but an honorable soldier. I implore you not to resign, Fullmetal. To fix this nation, I will need all of the help I can get. I won't deny your alchemic abilities will be more than useful."

Ed closed his eyes sadly. "I can't use alchemy anymore. That's… that's how I got Alphonse back. I gave it up for his sake."

Roy and Riza collectively gasped. "Are you.. are you serious?" said Mustang after a few seconds of shock passed.

"Yes. This is why I must resign. Besides, I don't think I can stand working under you anymore," joked Ed.

"Your personalities clash too much," commented Hawkeye.

"Well, Fullmetal," said Mustang. "Once I regain my vision, I will summon you to my office and we can formally discharge you." There was undeniable sadness in his voice. "I'm sorry for what you lost, but I'm glad you and Al got your bodies back. You deserve it. I'll be seeing you soon. And if Al is well by then, you should bring him to. I'm curious to see what he really looks like."

Ed walked up to the Colonel's bed, grabbed his hand gently, and shook it. "Thank you for everything you have done for Al and I." He released Roy's hand. "And thanks to you, too, Lieutenant. I owe the both of you a lot. Good luck with everything."

* * *

><p>Edward make various stops throughout the day, such as seeing off Ling, Lan Fan, and Mei as they left Amestris (the latter of who was upset about not being able to see Al), helping bury the deceased, and delivering the diminutive form of Pride to Lieutenant Breda and Mrs. Bradley, who broke into tears upon seeing what her son truly was. When the sun finally started to set, Ed practically ran back to the hospital that evening, thinking of nothing but his little brother and how frail he had looked the previous day… the Promised Day.<p>

When he arrived he realized that the ICU filled to the brim. It wasn't his fault, but he still felt guilty. His heart was also filled with pain knowing that his little brother was in here. Ed ran up to nearest nurse, startling her. She, however, seemed to recognize him and gave him a kind smile. "I assume you are looking for your brother, Edward Elric?"

"Do you think it's possible that I can stay in the same room as him? Like, even past the visiting hours?"

"No, sorry. Only the parents can stay with an underage patient."

Edward held out his pocket watch. "I'm a state alchemist!"

"I know that. But it doesn't make a difference. You are not his parent."

"Our mom is dead and our dad left us," he said bluntly. "I'm the only family he has left. Let me stay with him, please, I'm begging you!" Ed pleaded.

The nurse looked into his fierce and pleading gold eyes for a fraction of a second before turning away painfully. "I can't say no to that... just go and don't say that I sent you. Alphonse is in room 823." Ed mumbled his thanks as he made his way to find his brother. They haven't had a real conversation since Al had his body restored, and Ed was dying to know how his little brother was feeling.

When he entered the dimly lit room, he could feel his heart sink. The beeping of machines, the tangle of chords, and the labored breaths of his brother made his guilt increase tenfold. _It's all my fault, Al._

"Brother!" Al cried. Even though the weakness in his voice was apparent, there was no hiding the joy he expressed.

"Hey, Al," Ed smiled. "Glad you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"I... I feel. That's all I can say."

Edward had nothing to say to that.

"Brother?" Al asked weakly after many silent moments. " I need to ask you something. I can't stop wondering and I have to know."

"What is it?"

"I wanted to ask you yesterday but I could never get you alone. But now I can ask you: What did you give up?"

Ed looked away, causing Alphonse to freak out as much as his frail body would allow. "Ed, tell me! How am I here? What did you sacrifice! Did you use a Philosopher's Stone?"

"Al, I promised you I'd never use one. So I didn't."

"Then how did you do it?"

"I sacrificed my Gate of Truth to get you."

Al's golden eyes went wide with shock. "That's... that's possible?" he questioned. "How?"

Ed frowned. He'd have to tell Al everything, despite the guilt it would cause him. Al would know if he was lying, and besides that, he simply deserved to know the truth. "When I told that bastard Truth that my gate was the toll, he laughed in my face and said that I gave him the right answer. My gate disappeared and the truth dissolved into nothing, and then I saw you in front of your gate. That's how it happened."

"So, your gate is gone. What does that mean for you?"

"Well, I can no longer perform alchemy."

"...what!" yelled Al, coughing violently afterwards due to strength needed to simply yell. Edward ran to his brother's side and helped him.

"Alphonse, please don't overwork yourself," Ed said gently.

"Brother... you can't do alchemy anymore! That's... no." His eyes filled with tears. "Alchemy is like a part of you. Without it... I can't imagine you without it..."

"It's alright, Al. I can live without alchemy. Name one thing you can do with alchemy that you can't do any other way. Nothing, right? Alchemy just makes things easier; you don't need it to live."

"But, all of your skills... your State Certification..."

"Those are nothing compared to you, Al. I promised I'd get you back, and I did. I will be just fine no longer doing alchemy as long as I have you with me in the flesh. You were worth it."

"Brother... thank you. So much. I'm so sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Al. You should get some sleep."

"But your leg... I know it... it's still automail. Your body wasn't fully restored."

"I don't want it to be. I want to be reminded of these years physically. But that doesn't matter. Get some sleep, okay?"

"Alright. Goodnight, Brother."

Ed walked over to the couch in the room laid down. He was going to miss his alchemy more than anything, but in the end, he really didn't need it. Alchemy was what cost him his limbs and his brother, so it was only fair he was able to reverse that

The price for his and Al's sin was completely paid for. Everything was done.

* * *

><p>Morning came especially rough for Ed that morning, manifested in the form of sore muscles and a throbbing right shoulder. Ed groaned and rolled over, causing him to fall on the floor of the hospital room since he was sleeping on a couch.<p>

"Fuck," he whispered, not wanting to wake Al up. He stood up and looked at his brother, who was lost to deep sleep. He looked as if he could be dead; his body was so pale and his chest was barely moving. The machines next to him told his brother that Alphonse was still alive, so Ed tried not worry. Still, his little brother's well being was his top priority. After all, Alphonse was the reason he was able to move forward the past five years. The thought of seeing his smile, in his normal body, kept him going during the darkest of times. He couldn't lose Al now. Not after everything they'd been through.

Ed then checked the time. 11:26 AM. "Fuck," he whispered again. "I guess I have to go make some courtesy calls."

Ed fetched his research book which he had inscribed all of the phone numbers of loved ones. He had been a at Central's hospital so many times that he knew where to find everything, including the phone room. Luckily, Ed didn't have to make many calls today; nearly everyone was at his side during the Promised Day. But the people that weren't.. well, they needed to know. He picked up the phone and called the place most familiar to him- the Rockbell Residence.

The phone was answered up immediately. "Ed that had better be you," snapped Winry.

"Great guess!"

"Ed, what's going on? Granny's listening to the radio. Apparently they had a full scale rebellion yesterday led by the North and _your _commanding officer Mustang. What happened? Were you involved? Are you okay? Where-"

"Winry stop with the questions! I can't tell you now right now. I'll tell you... when I come home."

"Oh yeah! And when will that be? You and Al rarely ever visit!"

Ed ignored her jab and went straight to the point. "Winry, during the chaos yesterday Al got his body back, and I got my arm back. My leg's still automail, lucky for you."

"...are you serious! No way! How did you do it? Grandma, Al has his body back! Ed has his arm back! Where are you? I'm coming to see you right now!"

"No, Winry, stay home. Al's very weak and cannot handle much. I'm going to stay here with him until he gets stronger, and then the two of us will return home and explain everything. Okay?"

"...right, Ed. Fine. Whatever you want. Oh, and, uh.. Grandma needs to tell you something. I don't want to be the one to say it."

"What? What's going on?"

"Hey, Ed?" The voice changed suddenly; Ed felt his heart drop a little. He still wanted to talk to Winry.

"Yes, Granny?"

"Yesterday, I went to visit your mother's grave. I found something there."

"What is it?" His mind was racing.

Pinako sighed loudly from the other end. "Your father was kneeling in front of your mother's grave smiling. He was dead." Edward could hear the sadness in her voice.

"...I see," said Edward, masking all emotion. Memories of the previous day filled his brain, things his father had said to him. _I have just enough Philosopher's stone left for one person._ Hohenheim had used up his Philosopher's stone protecting everyone. He even offered his last soul.. his own soul.. for Alphonse. Edward's eyes stung at the memory of it all.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he replied, his voice heavily guarded. "I guess I have to tell Al this. He won't like it..."

"Send him my regards. I can't wait to see you boys again, especially Alphonse, now that he has his body back."

"I will. And Granny? Thank you."

"...why are you-" Ed pulled the receiver away from his ear and placed it down gently. Ed's mind was roaring with emotions. His father had abandoned him when he was two and a half years old. Ed hated him for it. Whenever he remembered how his mother would look out of windows sadly, as if hoping his father would return, his anger increased. And while Ed hated Hohenheim's guts, Al loved him. Ed wondered if that was because Al was too young to remember how hurt their mother was, or if it was just because Alphonse loves everyone unconditionally.

Edward walked to the nearest bench and plopped down. He rested his head in his hands and thought about his feelings towards his father, Van Hohenheim. When Ed saw his father at their mother's grave a half a year ago for the first time since he left, their meeting was anything but heartwarming. Ed cursed his father out, proclaimed his hatred, and did everything else along those lines. At their second meeting, two days ago, Ed even clocked him in the face. He promptly regretted it, however, when his father told Ed everything - how he was actually a 450 year old Xerxian, forced into immortality by Father. He learned that his father stayed away from his family for so long because he was trying to save Amestris. As to make up for his behavior towards his father, he told Hohenheim his mother's last words for him. Ed was shocked to see his father reduced to tears from hearing her words. Ed felt almost guilty; maybe his father actually was a kind person who truly cared for his family. Ed decided to not think on it; he had the Promised Day to worry about, and he wasn't going to let _possibly _false tears deter him.

Everything was released on the Promised Day. When his father offered his own life for his son - for Alphonse - Edward realized that his father truly cared for his family. If he was willing to die for his sons' happiness, he truly cared. There was no faking that.

"Edward?" asked a soft, motherly voice. Edward recognized the voice, yet the tone used was unfamiliar considering the speaker.

"Lieutenant?" Riza Hawkeye was standing in front of him, still in her hospital gown. She still had bandages on her neck, but was free of her IVs. "How are you feeling?"

"I came to ask you that question, Edward. Are you alright? Did something happen? Is Alphonse alright?"

"Al's fine. It's just.. I'm.. I'm confused," he confessed. "My father died last night."

"Oh... I'm so sorry, Edward," the woman said sincerely. She took a seat next to the boy.

"I'm alright, though. I'm just concerned about my brother. I hate hiding things from him, and it's hard for me to do so. But I don't want to tell him about our father just yet. I want him to get stronger; he's very weak right now. I don't know if he could handle it. Would that be the right thing to do? Keeping this from him?"

"I think it would. You should tell him once he is well enough to hear, and tell him _why_ you waited to tell him. Alphonse will understand."

Edward sighed. "Yeah, you're right. He'll understand. Al doesn't get angry often."

"Much unlike yourself," Riza commented. Ed frowned. "What? It's true."

"Yeah, whatever. Thanks."

Words could not express his gratitude to Riza Hawkeye that day.

* * *

><p>It has been two weeks since the promised day, and everyone was healing well. Roy, even though his sight had been taken away, studied with Breda on Ishvalan foreign policy instead of moping around. He refused to heal his sight until Havoc was healed, so he waited patiently for Havoc to return from his parents' shop. The Armstrongs both departed for their family home, presumably to fix everything there. The Curtis' returned to Dublith to tend to their meat shop. Many of the soldiers injured either retired and joined their families or stayed to help rebuild Central Command and the very government itself. Everyone seemed to be recovering well.<p>

But out of everyone, nobody recovered faster than Alphonse. In two short weeks, he'd already gained twenty pounds. He could now do simple things by himself, and could walk so long as he had a cane to assist him. Edward had stayed with him the whole time and helped him with his progress. He decided that today was going to be the day he told Al what happened to their father.

"Hey, Al, I have to tell you something."

"What is it, Brother? It sounds serious."

"I didn't want to tell you until your condition improved. I'm sorry for keeping this from you." Alphonse raised his eyebrows, silently begging his brother to go on. His golden eyes were sparkling.

"Dad is dead. He died in front of Mom's grave on the night of the Promised Day." Alphonse took a few seconds to register what was said. His expression, initially blank, morphed into an expression of pure grief and pain. It hurt Edward to see it. "You've been keeping THAT from me? All of this time? Brother? How could you?"

"Al, you have to understand. I knew how you'd take it. I wanted to see you healthy before I told you. Please, I didn't want to hurt you. Please Al, I'm so sorry."

Al buried his face in his hands. "Poor Dad," he cried. Edward put a comforting hand in his shoulder.

"I know you loved Dad," said Ed, "even if you never talked about it around me because you knew how I felt about him. I'm sorry for that. I realized on the Promised Day that Dad really cared for us, Al. You know, he offered himself as the price to get your body back that day."

At those words, Al picked up his head and looked Ed in the eyes. His eyes were tearing up. "Did he really?" Edward shook his head yes, and the tears slid down Al's cheeks slowly. "At least he's with Mom now... finally."

"After all of these years," Ed remarked. Tears were filling in his eyes as well, but he did not let them fall. He had to be strong for Al's sake. He simply stood there, holding his younger brother while Al sobbed for their lost father.

**F L A S H F O R W A R D**

* * *

><p>"Do you miss alchemy, Brother?" asked Al while walking with his Brother.<p>

"Why do you always ask me that question, Al? Sheesh."

"Just answer," Al commanded.

"Nothing's changed. I still enjoy studying and researching it with you like we used to do as children. The only difference is that I can't test out my own alchemical hypotheses. You have to do that for me."

"You know what, Ed? You always say different things whenever I ask you that question. But you never tell the truth. Come on Ed, don't lie to me. Just tell me if you miss it. It's a simple yes or no question."

"Fine, I miss it. There."

Al sighed and looked down towards the sand. "I'm sorry, Brother."

Ed grumbled. "You see? This is why I lie to you. Al, why are you sorry? You did nothing wrong."

"It's just.. it's not fair. We _both_ tried to bring Mom back. We _both_ committed a taboo. And look where we are. You can't practice alchemy and you are missing a leg. And look at me? Nothing. It's not fair, Ed. Why do you get all of the punishment? I deserve some too! It's not right."

Ed bit his lip and continued walking. He turned his head to look at Al. His expression was dark and dull and his eyes had a glazed look. Ed recognized that look right away. It was an expression he wore whenever he tried to bottle up his emotions and failed at it. "How long have you been thinking that?"

"Since the day I got my body back," admitted Al.

"Don't think like that, Al. I was the one who dragged you into that dreaded transmutation. I deserve the punishment. You don't deserve any of that. Besides, you suffered enough being trapped in that suit of armor for five years."

"You don't get it, Brother! I don't suffer anymore! You do! And don't tell me you don't. Sometimes I see you looking at your hands sadly, or drawing elaborate transmutation circles. It's not fair that you gave up your alchemy for me. I should be the one without alchemy! I should-"

"Stop it, Al," said Ed demandingly. The amount of anger in his tone caused Al to jump and freeze. The younger Elric sighed and resumed walking with a frown on his face.

"I didn't mean to yell at you, Alphonse; I'm sorry. But _you_ are the one that doesn't get it. Ever since you lost your body, I've blamed myself. Don't argue with me on this. You know it's true: I was the one who dragged you into it. And who paid the heavier price? You did. I can't even describe to you how guilty that made me feel. That's why for the five years you were stuck in that armor, I've done nothing but search for a way to get our bodies back. I had to set you free. I was willing to do _anything_ to get you your body back. If there was no other option, I would have sacrificed my own life to get your body back. Luckily, I was able to trade my alchemy. The feeling I get when I miss alchemy is nothing compared to the satisfaction I feel knowing that you have your body back."

Al closed his eyes, speechless from hearing Ed's words.

Ed continued. "Besides, don't say that you don't have a punishment. You heard what the doctor told you that day. Your body will never fully recover from what it went through at the gate. You will always be weaker than a normal person. Your risk for organ failure has quadrupled. Remember?"

"I remember. I just didn't lump it in with punishment until just now."

"So," Ed smiled, "your argument is invalid." Al laughed and playfully shoved his brother. When the laughter died down, Alphonse turned things serious again.

"Now that I think about it, this whole thing isn't fair. We were just kids, Ed. Children. All we wanted was our mother. And trying to get her back... we were punished severely. It's just too cruel; the Truth is cruel. And I know that the past is over with, but the memories still haunt me. I have nightmares of those dark days, and I know you do too, Brother.

"We may have been kids, Al, but we were very smart. Any kids knowledgeable enough to be able to attempt human transmutation should be smart enough to realize the risks it carries. We realized the risks and ignored them."

"And look where it has gotten us."

* * *

><p>"You know what I just realized, Al?" Ed asked them as they walked through the evening.<p>

"What, Brother?"

"Whenever a person dies, they become part of the world. All is one and one is all. Their soul goes through their portal and into the truth. Right?"

"Yeah. What's your point, though?"

"I don't have a portal of truth anymore."

"..so what will happen when you die? Do you have any theories?"

"Do you remember how my theory about our spirits crossing was confirmed when I saw your gate was with mine? Well, our spirits are still crossed. When I transmuted _my_ gate, I left using _your_ gate. So when I die, I will go through _your_ gate. Well, at least I think that is what will happen I don't know for sure. You know how unpredictable human alchemy is."

"What if I die before you?" asked Al, eyes widening. "Won't I lose my gate."

"That won't be able to happen. When I die, you'll die and vice versa. This is just a hypothesis, but since our minds are connected, once yours dies, my mind will die, severing the connection between my body and my soul. My soul will enter the gate with yours, and my body will die."

"So if one of us dies, we both die," said Al. "That's scary."

"Damn it!" yelled Ed. "Before the promised day, we were separated for three months. We had no contact with each other," remarked Ed. "During that time, I was in a mine when it collapsed."

"I heard about that! You were declared missing. I was so worried, Brother, you have no idea."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. But when the mine collapsed, a metal rod went through my stomach."

"You never told me that!"

"Sorry! Anyway, I lost so much blood, I almost died. I used some quick and painful alchemy to seal up my wound in order to survive. However, since I couldn't move, I couldn't get the materials needed for an equivalent transmutation. I was forced to use a part of my own soul as material for the transmutation. So technically I used a philosopher's stone power by one soul – my own."

"What does that mean for you, Brother?" asked Al worriedly.

"Damn it, I'm such an idiot. The transmutation matter I used took approximately eight years of life out of my soul. So my life expectancy has been shortened by eight years. It didn't bother me back then, but now I realize that I have shorted _your_ life expectancy by eight years as well, Al. I'm so sorry."

"Come on Brother, eight years is nothing. Besides, how long do you think I'll live with this weakened body? In about twenty years one of my organs will fail and we will both drop dead. Your life saving transmutation will probably mean nothing."

"Damn it," Ed said. "We're like ticking time bombs."

Al stifled a laugh. "On the bright side, I don't have to worry about your safety anymore. Because I'll always know that if I am alive, you are alive. And that goes for the both of us."

Ed didn't say anything, but he was both comforted and disturbed by that fact. He was comforted because he could keep in check with Al through his own body. He was disturbed because he couldn't just protect Al anymore: he had to protect himself as well. If he died, Al would die.

"Does this make us Siamese twins?" asked Al. "Alchemically speaking?" Ed playfully hit him.

"You're so silly, Al. Come on, we should rest for the night. We should be arriving in Ishval soon."

"Already?"

"Yeah! Does it really surprise you? When it is just the two of us we travel fast. Traveling is second nature to us."

* * *

><p>"Well, here we are..." said Alphonse."Three and a half days of walking has brought us here."<p>

"You know, Al, I was thinking about what you said a few days ago, and I realized you were right. After all Scar has done for our country, it would be right to visit him." Ed then cleared his throat and mumbled: "If he tries to kill me again, you'll save me with alchemy, right?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

And so, the two brothers walked into modern day Ishval, wondering what would await them there.


	8. Ishval

It was apparent from the moment they walked in that Ishval was undergoing some _major_ changes. There was construction going on everywhere. Literally, everywhere. No corner of the region was untouched. General Mustang, who was in charge of revitalizing the Ishvalan region, was very kind hearted and willing to compromise with the Ishvalans. He modernized their homeland greatly, yet he still allowed them to keep most aspects of their culture.

Apparently, Edward was well known in this region because the second he walked in, Ishvalans started pointing and whispering about him. Ed, not liking the attention, looked at Al nervously. Before he could speak, an Ishvalan child ran up to them.

"Excuse me, sir, but are you the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric?" the boy asked. His bright red eyes seemed to bore into Ed's soul.

"That depends. Is being Edward Elric a good thing?" Ed asked. Al snickered.

"Of course! You helped General Mustang rise to power! You're a hero to us!"

"Well, then I am Edward Elric," Ed beamed, showing off one of his signature cocky grins.

"Wow, really! You're just like Mr. Hero described you! Long golden hair and matching eyes, angry eyebrows, and a huge smile! Wow! It's so nice to meet you!" He repeatedly bowed up and down at the speed of light.

Edward was about to ask who the boy was referring to by "Mr. Hero" when the young boy turned to Alphonse. "Does that make you his brother? The one who used to be trapped in armor until your brother saved you by sacrificing his alchemy abilities! That's so cool! I have a little brother too and I can only dream that he looks up to me the way people say you look up to your brother!"

Al smiled at the boy sweetly. "I'm sure he will."

"Hey, kid, sorry to interrupt, but earlier you mentioned someone called "Mr. Hero". Who is he?" asked Ed, getting down to business.

"Oh, Mr. Hero! You should know him. You fought alongside him on the day where our country was made right! I think he called it.. The promise day?"

Al gasped. "Brother! I think he's talking about Scar!"

"Oh yeah!" said the kid. "Mr. Hero has an X-shaped scar on his head."

"That's definitely Scar. Can you take us to him, kid?"

* * *

><p>The child, who was named Juan, gladly escorted the two brothers to Scar. He led them to a large house in the middle of the region. On the way there, Juan chatted excitedly about how much he looked up to Ed, and how he treated his little brother the way Ed treated Alphonse. The two brothers found it adorable.<p>

The house was probably an average sized Amestrian home, but it was considered large the Ishvalans. As much prestige as Scar or whatever his name was held in the area, his house did not show it. Reluctantly, the Elrics knocked on the door.

A very tall and stocky woman answered the door. She looked to be in her early twenties and the brothers could tell she that was very, _very_ pregnant. She had long white hair held in a bun on the top of her head with a few messy strands hanging out. She wore an outfit typical of an Ishvalan woman; a dull pink dress that was very modest, especially for a pregnant woman. "Yes?"

"Um, hi," said Ed awkwardly. "We're looking for a man with an X-shaped scar on his forehead."

"Oh, of course." The woman smiled at them and yelled something in Ishvalan.

In a few seconds, Scar (or he was called now) appeared at the door. He looked exactly the same as both brothers remembered him, except he had some stubble on his face and the white tuft of hair on his head was now long enough to hold in a ponytail. When he saw Edward, his red eyes lit up with recognition.

"Edward Elric! Is this your brother.. the one in the armor?"

"Yes," said Ed gruffly.

"How have you been, Scar?" asked Al.

Scar frowned. "I have relinquished that name when I started my new life. People call me different things. Most Ishvalans call me 'Mr. Hero'." But, besides that, I have been fine. Thanks to Generals Armstrong and Mustang, I have become governor of Ishval and I make sure that all of my people are taken care of and their wishes are respected."

"That's nice," beamed Alphonse.

"Oh, this is my wife, Ayesha. Ayesha, these are the Elric brothers, Edward and Alphonse. They helped me become what I am today."

The brother's eyes went wide and they glanced at each other. "You have a wife!" yelled Ed in disbelief.

Scar - or Mr. Hero - scowled. "Why is that surprising?"

Al gulped. "Um... well.. you just don't seem like a... uh... _romantic_ person.."

"I wasn't until I met her," said Scar simply. "She changed my outlook on life completely. But enough of that. You two should come inside. I would like you to meet my son."

"You have a son!" yelled Al. "That's awesome."

"He just made one year a few days ago, said Ayesha happily. "His name is Ali. You should see him; he looks just like his father. I also have two more babies on the way. They're going to arrive any day now."

"Looks like you two have been busy," mumbled Ed. Al slapped his brother's shoulder.

Scar shot Ed a look. "Since that disgraceful Fuhrer ordered to have my people killed, I think it's necessary to repopulate the Ishvalan race."

Al pressed his mouth into a thin line. This conversation was growing very awkward. "Um, so how about your son? Can we see him?"

The four of them walked into a room where a young Ishvalan child. Al gasped. Ayesha was right; the baby looked just like scar, except nicer, cuter, and nowhere near as scary. Al smiled as he watched the young boy observe him and his brother with childlike wonder. He probably looked so strange to that child, with his yellow-green eyes and pale skin.

"You like kids, huh?" Ayesha whispered to Al.

"I sure do."

"Are you planning on having some of your own soon?"

Ed burst out laughing. Al felt his face heat up. "No way! I'm only seventeen."

Ayesha's red eyes went wide. "You look so much older."

Suddenly remembering his letter, Al was grateful for the distraction. "Oh, I have a letter for you. It's from Mei." Al handed him the letter. He and Ed watched nervously as Scar read the letter.

"Why do you want to learn alkahestry?" he asked Al when he finished.

"Do you remember that little girl you killed? The one that was turned into a chimera? She was very dear to us. I want to learn it so if this ever happens again, I can fix it," Al said bluntly.

"I am sorry for killing her. I wanted to put her out of her misery. I'm sorry."

"Sorry won't bring her back," said Ed bitterly. Alphonse looked away. He didn't like how Ed held a grudge against Scar, especially since he helped them so much on the Promised Day.

"I will gladly teach you the basics of alkahestry, young Elric. Follow me." Without looking back, Scar's large frame exited the house. Al shot his brother a confused look before following him.

Ali whimpered and clung to his mother's skirt as he watched his father walk away with bright-eyed stranger.

* * *

><p>"We're going to have dinner now," said Ayesha after about ten minutes after Scar's and Al's departures.<p>

"But we can't possibly ha-"

"We're going to have dinner now."

"Um, okay, but shouldn't we wait for Al and Sca-your husband to get back?"

"No. Here in Ishval, dinner is always served at 17:45, or 5:45pm as you Amestrians would say. If you miss dinner that is your problem."

Ed blinked. "Wow. Tough."

Ayesha, Ali, and Ed got themselves situated into a rather large and extravagant dining room. There were six chairs made of dark wood and red satin that were very comfortable to sit in. The room was dark, hindering many of the details of the room. The only source of light was a candlelit chandelier hanging above room.

Ayesha, noticing how Ed was absorbing the details of the room, began to explain it to him. "Dinner is very important in Ishval. It is usually the only full _meal_ that is eaten, and it is always eaten with the family. It is how we bond."

"So what kind of food do you serve?"

"Hold on for a minute and you will see." Ayesha left the room and returned with three huge, covered plates. "We have three courses: soup or salad, the main dish, and dessert, very similar to traditional Amestrian dining."

"I suppose. In Amestris we rarely ever 'dine' like this."

Ayesha nodded and placed each of them on the table and uncovered the first dish. Curiously, Ed peered into the dish to see a brownish red soup. It had chunks of red and brown bobbing up and down inside. It smelled good, but the visuals turned him off. Ed tried to hide his disgust.

Ayesha laughed. "This is lamb and cranberry soup. You probably think it looks gross, but I can assure you it is very good. The tart cranberries compliment the savory lamb perfectly."

"Lamb! Lamb! Lamb!" cheered Ali happily.

"I'll try anything as long as it doesn't have milk in it," commented Ed.

"You probably won't like dessert, then." Ayesha grabbed three bowls, one of which was noticeably smaller, filled them with the soup, and passed them around. Ali was given the small dish due to his young age.

Ed scooped a small amount of the soup onto his spoon and cautiously sampled it. The corners of his mouth curved into a wide grin when his taste buds detected the amazing soup. Everything Ayesha said was right; the lamb and the cranberry tasted good together. "Wow, this is awesome!"

"Aweshum! Aweshum!" said Ali, somewhat unfamiliar with the word.

After finishing his soup and moving on to the main meal, which was some sort of curry that Ed found delicious, Ayesha began to engage Edward into some serious conversation that made him very, _very_ uncomfortable.

"I can see questions in your eyes, Edward. I can take a guess what you are wondering. The man you call Scar – my husband – you are wondering how I married a man like him?"

Ed nearly choked on his food. "I.. no... wha... how did you know that?"

"I knew because of your comment earlier about the little girl he killed." Ayesha smiled a little. "But it was mostly a lucky guess."

"She wasn't his only victim," said Ed, still dazed from practically having his mind read. "Sc- your husband used to be a serial killer.."

"I'm aware."

"I'm sorry Ms. Ayesha, but how can you marry a serial killer?"

Ayesha frowned, her soft features turning sharp. "He is _not_ a serial killer. He _used_ to be one. Not anymore; that's the thing."

"That's still bad!"

"You don't understand, Ed," she said bluntly. "He has made mistakes in his life. We all have. Granted his are more serious, but he has left his past behind. He now dedicates his time to making a better future. My husband is a changed man and that is all that matters."

"I guess I don't understand, then."

"You of all should know about moving on from the past. From what I know about you, you are no better than my husband. You enlisted as a state alchemist so you could get funds to find a way to restore you and your brother's bodies because of a failed illegal experiment. You've killed people for money."

Edward slammed his hands on the table. "You're wrong. I've never killed anyone!" he screamed, causing Ali to start crying. Ayesha shot Ed a dirty look and got up to pick up and comfort her crying son.

"I'm going to put him to sleep. I'll be back."

She returned five minutes later without her son. "You say you've never killed anyone? Directly, you mean?"

Against his intellectual will, Ed remembered how nearly four years ago he overthrew a false prophet in the city of Leore and unknowingly started a violent rebellion. He couldn't stop he guilt in his heart and averted his eyes from Ayesha's blood red stare.

"That doesn't make you a bad person. You've just made mistakes. The person you are now is what matters. And you are a good person, Edward, just like my husband. I can see it."

"Leaving me out of this, I just _don't_ understand how a good woman like you can marry a tainted man like Scar."

"I fail to see what is "tainted" about him. I only see goodness. That's the point of marriage, you know. Maybe you'll understand when you get married. My husband has told me that you are romantically involved with a cute blonde girl from your hometown. Are you really?"

"I... yeah, I am," Ed admitted.

"That's good. Love has the ability to bring out the best in people. Now, are you ready for dessert?" Ayesha rose from the table, placed her hands on her enormous belly, and hobbled to the kitchen. "I need to get the topping. It has to be cold so I did not place it on the table with everything else." Ayesha winked at him. "It's not traditional to do this, but I've always been a bit of a rebel."

Ed nodded his head quietly, too immersed in thought to speak. _Love can bring out the best in people. _Those words would go far with him; he's never forget them.

Ayesha came out of the kitchen with a small pitcher. "We're not done our conversation, by the way."

"Damn," whispered Ed under his breath. He was not enjoying the intense conversation. It was too personal. Al was probably the only person Ed felt comfortable having a conversation like this with. And now he was having it with someone who was practically a stranger.

Ayesha sat down and uncovered the final dish. "This is called baklava. It's a pastry, essentially; they have them in Amestris. This topping, however, adds the Ishvalan touch. It is made of milk, sugar, and honey. I'm supposed to pour it on now but since you hate milk, I'll just pour it on my slice and save you the disgust."

"I appreciate that," laughed Ed. Ayesha cut two slices and handed one to Ed. She poured the milk sauce on her dish. "My son loves baklava. Too bad I put him to sleep."

"You were gone five minutes. You put him to sleep that fast?"

Ayesha wiggled her fingers. "Mother's touch."

Ed felt a sad longing in his heart rise up. No matter how much time had passed to heal his wounds, he would never _not _miss his mother or feel jealously when he saw mother/son interactions. He used to be ashamed of these feelings until he discovered that Al felt the same way during one of their frequent heart-to-hearts.

"You look sad," stated Ayesha, prying again.

Ed put on his best poker face. "I feel bad that I caused your son to cry," he lied quickly.

"You're lying." _Damn this woman and her emotion reading powers_, thought Ed.

"No I'm not!" Ed protested.

Ayesha laughed. "Please. You can't hide your emotions from an Ishvalan woman. We read people like books, _especially_ foreigners."

"Okay, I am upset, but it's personal and I really don't want to talk about it."

Ayesha stabbed her dessert with her fork. "Alright. Try your baklava."

Slowly, Edward cut a small chunk off of his food and ate it. It was definitely the best dessert he had ever had in a long time. Ed began to shovel the baklava into his mouth.

"Is it about your brother?" Ayesha pressed on. "I know you two are very close."

Edward shook his head and swallowed the mouthful of flaky pastry. "You're awfully nosy," he said matter-of-factly.

"I'm not usually _this _nosy. It's the pregnancy hormones making me crazy, I tell you."

Edward glanced at Ayesha's belly and got a great idea. Ayesha loved to pry into people's business, but if he changed the topic she'd pry into something less personal. "Please don't go into labor with me here. I had to help a woman deliver a baby in Rush Valley a few years back. I panicked and was practically useless."

"Was the delivery successful?"

Ed laughed nervously, hiding his relief that his plan was working. "Luckily, yes. My friend – fiancée, I mean – Winry handled it well."

Scar's wife folded her hands under her chin and peered at Ed with a look that Ed could now recognize as her prying look. _Crap_, thought Ed. _I blew it_."Oh, so the village girl is your _fiancée_? Why aren't you with her?"

Ed's features dulled. "It's complicated."

"Is that what was bothering you?"

"No, I was thinking about my mother and how I miss her." As soon as the words left his mouth, Ed clamped his hand over his mouth. After a moment he released it. "You tricked me! How do you do it?"

Ayesha shrugged. "Is that who you performed the human alchemy on, your mother? I never found out who it was, I just knew you tried."

"Yes, it was. It was a huge mistake. In the end I lost way more than I gained. Worst of all, I put Al's life at risk and I cannot forgive myself for that. But all of it has been fixed and Al and I have learned our lessons. We have moved forward."

"Just like my husband did. So do you understand now how I can fall in love with a man like him?"

"I.. yeah." Ed scowled internally. _Those damn Ishvalan women,_ he thought. _They're almost bigger know-it-alls than Mustang_.

* * *

><p>"I knew you brothers were prodigies, but I never knew you were this good. You mastered the basics way faster than I expected. Mei would be proud if she were here. It's kind of funny because in her previous letters she talked about you being a bad student," said Scar as he and Al sat down after an intense two-hour training session.<p>

"What!" yelled Al. "I am not a bad student. She's a bad teacher!"

Scar folded his arms. "You know, I've heard a lot about you from Mei." Scar inched his face closer to Al's. Al swallowed and tried not to look as intimidated as he felt. "You had better not do anything to hurt her, or you'll have to deal with me."

"U-um, I would never-"

"Of course you wouldn't," said Scar. "I'd rather it be you than your brother, at least." Al wondered how close Mei and Scar were and exactly how much Mei had told him about their relationship. Did she ever mention to him that she had romantic feelings for Al? Al began to calculate the chances of her doing that in his head; it was something he did when he was nervous. He shared that trait with his brother, who liked to recite the Periodic Table of Elements during times of distress. Upon thinking of Ed, Al was reminded that his brother was just insulted by scar and jumped to defend him.

"My brother isn't _that_ mean, you know. He's just stubborn."

"I didn't mean anything bad by that, Elric. Your brother reminds me of my brother, actually."

"Your brother," Al muttered in remembrance. "The one who went to such great lengths to discover the truth behind Amestrian alchemy and played a great hand in saving our country despite the fact that he died a few years ago to save your life. He sounds like a great man."

"He was a great man, truly blessed by Ishvalla. I can only hope he is now living in peace with Ishvalla right now."

"Yeah," said Al softly.

"Ishvalla is all-forgiving, Elric," said Scar. "He forgives me for all of the deaths I caused. He forgives your military. He forgives you and your brother." Scar looked up into the sky, as if the face is his god would appear before him.

Al just hummed in response.

"You brothers aren't religious, are you?" asked Scar after some moments. "It could really improve your lives. Religion is the reason we Ishvalans were able to move forward after the war."

"Well," said Al gently, "I'm an agnostic and Brother's an atheist, and we have had very few problems moving forward from our troubles."

Scar just shrugged. "Okay, I'm trying to help. I won't pry into your life, Elric. That's my wife's job. In fact, I bet she has discovered your brother's life story by now."

Al laughed nervously. _I hope for her sake she hasn't_, he thought.

"Come on, let's go back to my house. I'm sure my wife has dinner waiting for us."

Al was a little frightened at the thought of having dinner with Scar, but he at least owed him the courtesy since the man just spent two hours teaching him.

* * *

><p>After Al and Scar returned to Scar's house and ate the remnants of the meal, the brothers were encouraged to rest the night before traveling to Eastern Command the next day. The brothers had to share a room and a bed, but they didn't mind. They would have been grateful to sleep on their floor if need be.<p>

"People have been so kind to us, Brother," said Al amidst the darkness of the night.

"Yeah," said Ed sleepily.

"It's ironic that we're staying in the house of the man who tried to kill you before."

"Mmmm," mumbled Ed.

"I'll let you sleep, Brother," chuckled Al. "Maybe it'll help your short temper and allow you deal with Mustang."

Ed launched himself up out of lying position "Did you just call me short?" he asked, slightly angry but too sleepy to engage in a full blown rant.

"No, Ed. Go to sleep," ordered Al.

"Yes, sir," muttered Ed as he flopped down onto the bed.

* * *

><p>Ed found himself walking the familiar path that he has walked so many times. It was the narrow, dusty path that led to the Resembool graveyard. For some reason, he was not controlling his movements. His feet seemed to be guided by a mysterious force. Ed's mind was a haze of images of his past. The memory of his mother's face, smiling sweetly at him, seemed to pop up the most. Occasionally her form would flicker next to his as we walked. His right arm would reach out towards her, but whenever it touched her, his flesh would turn into automail. He ignored the sting and kept trying to reach for his mother, relishing each punishment when his automail hand would brush against her arm.<p>

When he reached the graveyard, his mother's image disappeared altogether. Ed was given a cold, gray tombstone in her place, an exchange that was nowhere near equivalent.

"I've been waiting for you," said a soft and feminine voice. Ed turned around and took two steps back when he saw her. Her sky blue eyes were wide and alert, yet they seemed to pour love and compassion. Her hair was tied up in a fancy updo laced with pearls. Her customary loose strands were being caressed by the wind, blowing softly around her pale yet beautiful face. She wore an elaborate white dress that couldn't be anything but a wedding gown.

"Winry," breathed Ed.

In response, Winry flashed him a smile. Ed's heart stopped. Her smile wasn't genuine or loving. It wasn't a Winry smile. It was sick, twisted, distorted. It was anything _but_ Winry. I didn't feel right. "I've been waiting for you," she said again, her voice lined over with a mocking tone. Ed heard the sound of a gun being loaded and, just like that, Winry was holding a pistol up to his forehead.

"You've gone against my will," said Winry. No, it wasn't Winry. Her voice was cold and masculine. He looked into her eyes and saw the soft sky blue morph into a piercing blood red. Her nicely done blonde hair fell out of its updo and dimmed in color. Her soft face contorted into one lined with years of anger and torment. Edward recognized the face. It was Father after he has absorbed the souls of the Amestrian citizens. The eyes, however, did not match.

"I must eliminate the Fullmetal alchemist," she said. No. Not she. The voice had changed again. It was unmistakably Scar's voice; Ed realized who the eyes belonged to.

He found his voice. "So, you want to kill me now?" he questioned.

"I'm going to do much worse than that." The voice was no longer Scar. It was the eerie voice of Truth. The figure lifted the gun to the sky.

"You're going to suffer," said the Truth while still in the false body. He fired the gun two times.

Suddenly, the figure before him changed into a wisp of black smoke. From the smoke, a body fell to the ground. The smoke wrapped itself around the body, making it unrecognizable. Blood poured out of the two bullet wounds and washed away the black smoke.

Edward walked closer to the body and recognized it immediately. His heart clenched inside of his chest and he fell to the ground in panic. Before him sat the body of his little brother, his golden eyes opened wide in fear.

"Al," whispered Ed. "This isn't funny. Get up."

No response.

"Come on! Al… Alphonse!"

No response.

"Damn it, please don't be dead."

No response. Ed felt his throat tighten so hard that breathing became a chore. His lungs pushed inside of his chest, but the air seemed to float in and out of his lungs without supplying oxygen to his body. Ed started breathing harder and harder but he could not get enough air. After a few moments his face turned deep red, and he dropped on top of his brother's body, choking for air, preparing to join him. His body gave one last jerk, and everything turned dark.

Ed sat up, breathing heavily and sweating. He lifted his two flesh hands to his face. Suddenly, everything became real. He turned his head to see his little brother, alive and well, sleeping peacefully next to him. Ed breathed a sigh of relief. Al was okay.

"It was just a dream." He wiped off his forehead and laid back down in his bed. He hadn't had a dream like this since when his brother was still a soul bonded to armor. Why were they starting again now?

Ed rolled over and scoffed. It was probably a psychological reaction to having to see Mustang again.

Yep, that was the reason.


	9. East City: Roy

"You got an appointment with the General?" asked the attractive secretary at the desk in the lobby of Eastern Command. She was a slender, tan woman with long blonde hair and dull black eyes. Anyone could tell she loathed her job. She looked up at Edward and smacked her lips out of boredom, expecting an answer from the young man.

"No," said Ed flatly.

"Then you can't see him," she answered even more flatly.

"I thought veterans had visitation rights?"

"Only honorably discharged veterans can visit with an appointment" she said as she began to doodle on her notepad. _Rude bitch_.

"I _am_ honorably discharged."

She scoffed. "Please. You _also _have to be ranked Lieutenant or higher. You're so young; I'll bet you didn't even reach Private. You were a cadet, huh?"

"No! I'm a fucking Major! I'm a retired State Alchemist!" Ed hollered.

"Brother, please," warned Al from behind him.

"Can I see some identification?" she asked, slightly amused.

Ed bit his lip. Identification? The only thing he ever had of that sort was his pocket watch, which he had returned to the General. "Um, well-"

"Woah! Edward, is that you?" called someone from behind the good-for-nothing secretary. Ed looked up and breathed a sigh of relief. Sergeant Fuery was walking towards him with a huge smile of recognition. With Fuery's rank, he would be able to get Ed in without a word from the Private at the desk.

"Hey Sergeant! Long time no see!" explained Ed happily. "How are you?

"I'm great! Great to see you two brothers are doing well. Oh, and I'm actually a Warrant Officer now. Got promoted," he beamed. "Are you here to see General Mustang? I would take you to him but I have a very important message I have to deliver. All I can do is let you in."

"Please do that," said Ed, shooting a dirty look at the secretary. She saw the glare, looked away, and clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth as an angry retort.

"Great. Let them pass, Private," he told the secretary. She didn't look up as the Elrics walked right past her into the command center. "I'm sorry I can't stay and chat. I still have orders to obey. Mustang is on the top floor; only door there, you can't miss it."

"Thanks, Officer. See you later," said Al as the both of them waved off Fuery.

The brothers climbed three flights of stairs before Ed paused. "Woah, I have to go use the bathroom. Wait for me, Al?" he half-asked, half-commanded.

"No," Al refused. "You meet me up there."

"Whatever," Ed said as he took the door while Al climbed another flight of stairs.

* * *

><p>Roy Mustang was spending another boring day in his office, filling out his paper work. Well, he was <em>supposed<em> to be filling out paper work. Luckily for him, Major Hawkeye had left half an hour ago to run errands. In her place, Captain Havoc sat in smoking a cigarette, clearly not concerned with the fact that his superior officer was slacking off. Without her "guidance", did not touch his paperwork save for using the stack of paper as a pillow for a nap.

His nap was interrupted when his doors burst open. Expecting Hawkeye, Roy bounced up from his lying position and tried to pretend that he was doing his work all along. When nothing was said to him, Roy peered up and was surprised when he saw a teenage boy instead of a young woman.

Havoc noticed the boy the same time Roy did and stood up, jumped over his desk, and pointed a pistol at the boy's face within seconds.

"Who are you and what makes you think you can just barge in here!" Roy demanded angrily.

The boy freaked out a little and put his hands in the air. "Woah, General, is that how you treat someone you haven't seen in three years?"

"I've never seen you before in my life," Mustang scoffed. "Get out of here before I call security."

"If you call security, Brother will go into one of his rants," said the boy sweetly.

"Brother?" Mustang froze. "Wait... are you... oh.. I'm sorry. I should have recognized your voice. I haven't seen your actual body before. Forgive me, Alphonse."

"Alphonse? You mean Fullmetal's younger brother in the armor?" questioned Havoc.

"I'm not in that armor any longer, obviously," said Al, harboring a bit of his brother's attitude.

"Well damn." Havoc lowered his weapon and patted Al's back. "So this is what you look like. How have you been, buddy?"

Al didn't have time to answer as Mustang decided to speak. "You're much taller than Edward."

"Don't tell Brother that," said Al, trying to conceal his grin. "He'll be up here in a minute. I actually have a favor to ask of you on his behalf."

"Anything for you boys."

"Well, Brother was supposed to get married a few weeks ago and he sort of, um, _skipped town_. I've been with him trying to get him to get married but it's taking too long. If he waits too long Winry will marry someone else and I will not let that happen. Can you talk some sense into him"?

Havoc removed the cigarette from his mouth and busted out into laughter. Roy laughed a little as well, much to Al's dislike.

After a brief silence, Mustang spoke. "Oh, Fullmetal, when will you learn? Impulsive fool."

* * *

><p>After bursting through the doors like <em>he<em> was the General instead of Mustang, Ed surveyed the man sitting at the desk across from him. He looked like the same old General to him. The only difference is that the determination is eyes shined brighter than ever.

"Fullmetal. Great to see you in good health," he said with a nod.

"Same to you, _sir_," Ed replied, stretching out the last word. "Your secretary is awful, by the way. Why did you hire her?"

"I need something pleasant to look at when I enter this building."

"You have all the eye candy you need right there," said Edward, pointing his thumb at Riza's desk.

Roy folded his arms. "I'll have you know that I value my second-in-command for way more than her looks," retorted Mustang. "Besides, you shouldn't talk about another equally ranked officer like that. It's disrespectful. I won't allow you to talk about my Major that way."

"Yeah, yeah. So why are you at Eastern and not Central?" Ed asked.

"I'm the head chairman of the Ishvalan Restoration Committee. I need to be near Ishval. Ishval is in the East. Therefore, I must be in the East."

"I knew that," scoffed Ed. Havoc and Al laughed, earning glares from Edward.

"So, Fullmetal," asked Roy, folding his hands under chin and placing his elbows on his desk, "How have you been?"

"Good, I suppose."

"I hear you've been busy running away from your bride," said Roy bluntly. Havoc snickered.

Ed turned his head and gave his brother the nastiest of looks. "Thanks, Alphonse," he snarled. Al flashed his hands into the air and took a step back, as if that would remove him from the situation.

"Hey, leave poor Al out of this. It's bad enough he's run away with you!" said Roy, raising his voice.

"General... watch it," warned Al gently. "I'm sorry, Ed."

Ed waved his hand towards Al, a signal that meant he forgave Al but did not want to speak with him at the moment. "I don't see why my love life is any of your business, General," said Ed coldly.

"It's not. But I wanted to give you some advice to help get it back on track."

"Advice? From you? Please. You taken a new woman out for a date nearly every weekend and suddenly you're a marriage expert."

"A new one every weekend?" asked Havoc, laughing heavily. "Where did you hear that crap?"

Roy shot Havoc a look. "You should learn to discern between truth and rumor, Edward," said Roy, taking up a paternal tone. Havoc's laughter increased. Al's face was set in stone, his lips pressed into a firm line in order to not show any emotion. Despite his placid appearance, Al was giggling on the inside. Ed's face was turning red from anger and embarrassment.

"For the record, I've confronted truth twice and beat it the second time. I can't say the same for you."

"But I never willingly tried to face the Truth. I'm no moron. I knew the consequences."

"Hey," whined Al. "be careful who you direct your insults at!"

"Stay out of this, Alphonse," yelled both Ed and Roy simultaneously. Al backed up into the corner in response.

Like rapid gunfire, Roy struck another nerve without hesitation. "What made you run out on poor Winry? She's a sweet girl."

Ed's lips pressed into a line so thin, they were almost nonexistent. "It has nothing to do with Winry. Okay? Okay."

"Oh, I get it. You were _scared_," Roy teased.

"I was not!" Ed shot back. "This isn't even any of your business, anyway. Al, why are you making me do this?"

"To make you realize where you belong," he answered from his corner of the room. He didn't bother mentioning his fears of Winry marrying another man and the family being torn apart.

"I don't belong anywhere."

It grew quiet after that comment. So quiet, in fact, that you could hear the wind blowing outside. Havoc lit up a new cigarette. "What makes you say that, chief?

"I don't belong anywhere. I like to travel."

"Really?" asked Roy. "Then why ask Winry to marry you if you don't want to settle down?"

"I want to settle down... sometimes. Other times, I don't. It's conflicting."

"Couldn't you have thought about that _before_ you asked her to marry you? Imagine how she feels."

Ed crossed his arms. "I imagine what she must be feeling every day. I think about her more than you're making it out to be."

"Is that so?" asked Roy. His question was coated with a heavy dose of sarcasm. The cocky grin didn't help either.

Ed stomped his foot. Despite being almost nineteen years old, he was still prone to his tantrums. _Especially_ around Mustang. "You know what? Forget it. Bastard." Ed muttered the last word as he stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Brother," Al whined even though he knew it would be no use.

Havoc blew a puff of smoke. "He hasn't changed a bit."

Roy laughed. "Alphonse, why don't you go drag him back in here? You're the only one that can talk some sense into him."

Al nodded and left the room in a manner way more proper than his elder brother did. He imagined all the places that Ed could have possibly ran off to, but stopped when he noticed his brother standing not even twenty feet away from the entrance. He was hunched angrily over the banister, staring out to the view of East City. His nose was pressed against the glass window and his was brow was slanted with anger. "Brother, you should come back inside."

"Why? So I can be ridiculed some more?

Al sighed. "Brother, you know how General Mustang can be. Behind the sarcastic jokes, he means well. You know that."

"Whatever. I don't even know why you brought me here. He's not helping at all."

"I don't know about that. You did admit that you wanted to settle down but you wanted to travel, which brings me closer to the answers that you're not telling me.

"It's not that I'm not telling you! I'm just confused, Al."

"Okay. You can do both, you know, Brother. You can start a family and see the world."

"What? You think I can be a good husband and father when I'm gone all of the time? Do you realize I have a tendency to not call or write to people when I'm traveling?"

"I do realize, I just-" Al stopped in his sentence midway. His brain had just registered sentence and two words that Ed said stuck out. _Good father_. Al gasped.

"..what?" asked Ed, turning his head towards his brother.

"The reason you ran away... you're afraid of marrying Winry because you're afraid of starting a family. You're afraid of becoming like our dad, aren't you?"

Ed's gaze fell to the floor. "I guess… that's part of it… yeah."

Al turned around so that his back was facing the view of East City and leaned against the banister. He brought his hand to his forehead. "Why didn't you just say so!" Al made no attempt to hide his frustration.

"At first, I wasn't sure why I ran away. I thought it was commitment issues. But then when I visited Xing and saw how Ling and Mei lived, I was reminded of what it was like to grow up without a father. And the dream I had in the desert sealed the deal and made me realize this."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Al sounded a little hurt.

"I wanted to, but I couldn't get it out."

"What am I going to do with you, Ed? You can't just _assume_ you're going to be a bad father because our dad was never around. Besides, our father wasn't a bad father. Admit it. He just wasn't there."

"And look what happened to us."

"What, are you afraid your kids are going to transmute Winry when she dies?"

"That wasn't funny."

"I wasn't trying to be."

Ed turned to see Al. Both brothers stared at each other with firery determination; a common occurance for Ed and a rare one for Al. "That's another part of it. I don't want my children to turn out like us."

Al folded his arms angrily. "Are you serious? What's wrong with us? We're fine."

"We're falling apart. You're weak. I have one leg. I cannot perform alchemy. Our souls are linked on a decreased lifespan."

Al clenched his fists and threw them down. "God damn it, Edward!" he yelled. The tone was so harsh, so unlike Al, that time itself seemed to freeze with his scream. Ed's eyes widened in horror. After everything they've been through Al has never, ever yelled at anyone like that. And now, why did it have to be him?

Al realized this too and took a deep breath, allowing his features to cool from their signs of anger. "Ed, you are the smartest person I know, and you are acting so stupid. Answer this question: Are you happy?"

"Am I happy? Do I _look_ happy?"

"Forget that we are outside Mustang's office and forget that you miss Winry. Are you happy?"

"Well, yeah, I guess.."

"Then why are you so afraid? You said you are scared you'll be a bad father. We, for most of our lives, had no parents. Look how we turned out. Yes, we've made mistakes, but we were able to move on. Look who we are now. Are you afraid that somehow your children will be thrown into the same scenario as us and not be able to escape it like we have?" Al laughed. "Your kids will be mixes of you and Winry. Child prodigies, even smarter than you most likely. You shouldn't have to fear for them like this." Al paused for a second, possibly for dramatic effect. "Besides, brother, you don't have to have children with Winry _right away_. I'd actually prefer you not do that. I'm not ready to be an uncle!"

Ed laughed and looked out to the view of the city. "You always know exactly what to say, Brother."

Alphonse smiled. Ed hardly ever called him 'Brother', but when he did, it meant the world to him. Al lifted his right arm and placed around Ed's shoulders. The brothers almost never shared physical affection, so to them the tiniest things meant so much more to each other.

"So, ready to go back and see Mustang?" asked Al.

"Bring it on."

* * *

><p>When Ed returned to General Mustang's office, he wasn't exactly smiling, but he wasn't sulking either. That itself was a good sign in Mustang's eyes. "Welcome back, Fullmetal."<p>

"I don't see why you insist on calling me that even though I've retired."

"Once you're part of the military, you're always part of the military in a way."

"Please. That only applies to people obsessed with their jobs like you."

"Obsessed? I call it _dedicated_."

Havoc coughed up a small cloud of smoke. "Is there ever a moment where you two are not bitter with each other?"

Al piped up from against the wall where he was leaning. "Seriously, Brother, you haven't seen the General in nearly three years. We owe him so much - can't you be a _little_ nicer to him?"

"Nice isn't in the terms of our relationship," croaked Ed.

"We should change that, Edward," said Roy, struggling to call the former alchemist by his first name.

"I don't respond well to change."

"Clearly," whispered Havoc so that only Alphonse could hear him. Al tried to suppress his laughter and failed.

The General and the ex-Major ignored their antics. "I want to give you something, Edward."

Ed's eyebrows wrinkled in confusion as he eyes the General skeptically. "Will I like it?"

"I don't know if you'll like it, but you may find it useful."

"What are-" Ed tried to say, but he was speechless by the gift. In the middle of his sentence, Roy whipped out a black velvet box and flipped it open with his thumb. Inside the box was a gold ring with intricately placed jewels in the center. The middle gem was a huge, dark red stone. Surrounding that gem were tiny diamonds that sparkled and around the middle jewel. Ed started with a gaping mouth at his "gift" before snapping to his senses. "What the hell is this, Mustang? Are you going to propose to me of something?"

Mustang flipped the box closed and scoffed. "Is that how you react to a gift? Especially one as sophisticated as this?"

"Sorry, General," Ed mumbled awkwardly. "But what am I supposed to do with it?"

"Give it to Miss Rockbell, of course!"

"This must have cost a fortune," said Edward as he grabbed the black box from his former commanding officer.

"I'm a General; I can afford things like this."

"Sure, rub it in, chief," sneered Havoc. Roy shrugged.

"Why would you have something like this, General?" asked Ed. "It's a little strange that you just carry this around with you."

"I bought it in case I ever needed it. But as of now I think you need it more, Edward. And don't worry; you won't have to pay me back. Your service to me when you were enlisted is enough."

"In case you ever needed it?" asked Alphonse, picking up on the seemingly insignificant part of Mustang's sentence. "General... do you have someone you are planning to propose to?"

"The only thing he'll ever propose to is the throne of Amestris," teased Havoc.

"I won't argue with that," agreed Roy with a laugh. He casually picked up the pen beside him and began filling out more paperwork. "I'd hate to ask you to leave, Fullmetal, but my Major will shoot me if I don't finish this paperwork."

"It's alright," said Ed respectfully as he gave a quick bow. "It was somewhat pleasant to see you again."

Roy smirked a little. "Likewise."

"Thank you for the gift. I'll write to you, okay? See you later. Same to you, Havoc." Roy nodded as Ed took his leave. Alphonse bid much more kinder farewells to both the General and his Captain as he left with his Brother. As they walked out, Alphonse eyed the black box in brother's hand. Why did General Mustang _really_ have such a thing?

Back in the office, Havoc was wondering the same thing but was much bolder in his actions. "General, where did you get that ring, why do you carry it, and how come you gave it to Fullmetal?" he snapped.

"Am I being interrogated by my Captain? Hawkeye sure trained you well."

Havoc stifled a laugh. "Seriously, sir, what was it for?"

"It was going to be a gift for someone."

"Why give it to Fullmetal?"

"The person who I was going to give it to probably wouldn't have liked it. They're a very simple person. That ring is very showy. Perhaps Fullmetal would like his woman to wear it. He likes things that are flashy."

"If I may ask, sir, who did you plan on giving that ring to?"

"An old ally that has helped me through the years."

* * *

><p>Edward made sure to give the meanest, ugliest glare he could muster to the secretary at the desk before leaving. Once that was accomplished, he walked down the stairs of the HQ and sat down on the bottom steps. He pulled out the black box Mustang gave him, flipped it open, and stared at the contents.<p>

Al sat down right next to him and observed the ring as well. "It's very regal."

"It is. I just don't see Winry wearing it. Something is not right."

Al hummed in thought for a moment. "Can I see the ring, Brother?" Ed wordlessly passed the box over to his brother. Al grabbed the ring from the box and looked over the ring, observing every detail of it. "It's very heavy. I'd say this is 24 karat gold."

"No way, that's too weak for a ring. It's something like 18.5 karats."

Al nodded. He never knew how Ed did it, but he was very good at determining the exact amount of something by just feeling or holding it. When they were younger and still learning alchemy, Ed used to be able to scoop a handful of pretty much any element and accurately guess the mass. "And this middle jewel... is it a ruby?"

Ed scoffed. "That's obviously a garnet. It's pretty big; I'd say six karats."

"A garnet? You don't say," said Al. As alchemists, the brothers had to study the many different compounds the earth had to offer and their worth. Knowing this stuff was important; without it, many transmutations would fail due to lack of equivalency.

Al grabbed the box from Ed and placed the ring inside. Ed shot Al a quizzical look as he closed the lid and placed the valuable piece of jewelry on the ground. Before anything could be done, Al clapped and placed his hands on the box. Sparks of blue light flew everywhere; the feel of them threw Ed back into the past.

"What the hell are you doing, Al?" yelled Ed. He snatched the box off of the ground before Al could look at it. Worriedly, he flipped the box open again and gasped.

The ring was the exact same size and design as before, but the colors were drastically different. The bright yellow gold of the ring had changed into luminescent silver. The top garnet was now a light blue stone that Ed identified as an aquamarine. Both changes not only changed the color of the ring, but also decreased the value as aquamarine and silver were worth less than garnet and gold.

However, this was made up for the fact that some of the diamonds on the side were now sapphires. The alternating patterning of sapphires and diamonds was very unique and beautiful. Together with the aquamarine and the refracted light from the diamonds and sapphires, the ring seemed to sparkle a brilliant blue color.

But they were not just _any_ brilliant blue; they were the blue that Edward saw every day in the eyes of Winry Rockbell.

"Holy _shit_, Al," gasped Ed. "It's... perfect! How did you do this?"

"It was a pretty complex transmutation, but nothing you couldn't have done. I just changed the gemstones' properties. The quality of the gems decreased but I made up for that for the way it sparkles."

"You outdid yourself." Ed closed the box and put the ring in his pocket. "I want to give this to her."

Ed opened his mouth to say more but paused when he saw something move from the corner of his eye. He turned his head to see a tall, blonde woman walking slowly down the steps. She had on thick black glasses and short blonde hair. Her long bangs couples with the fact that she was looking down made her face hard to see. She looked somewhat familiar to him, but he really could not tell who she was.

Suddenly, right as she was about to pass them, she looked up. Ed gasped because the woman was not someone "somewhat familiar" to him. It was someone he swore he'd never forget.

The woman was Riza Hawkeye.


	10. Interlude: Restoration

It was a competition of whose blue eyes could procure the scariest glare as the two siblings stared at each other.

"Olivier."

"Alex."

Neither of them budged, only opening their mouths to speak the other's name.

The brother, Alex Louis Armstrong, sighed. "Oliver, can you ever act like a _normal_ human being instead of a soulless robot?"

The sister, Olivier Mira Armstrong, folded her arms across her chest. "Alex, can you ever act like a _normal_ human being instead of a spineless jellyfish?"

This was usually how the two oldest Armstrong siblings greeted each other. After the Promised Day, their relationship towards each other had improved greatly. That is usually the effect that fighting side-by-side with someone has. After he repeatedly put his life on the line to protect hers, Olivier began to respect her younger brother a _slight_ bit more. And Alex, well, he always looked up to Olivier. He'd never admit to that, though.

Alex Armstrong walked fully into his sister's office, right up to her desk. "Do you know where the Elric brothers are?"

"I sent them to Xing for two weeks."

Alex blinked. "What? Xing! Why would you send them that far away! I would have sent them straight back to Resembool!"

"The younger Elric had affairs to tend to in Xing that were hindered by his older brother's problems. I chastised him for his decisions and sent them both on an all expense paid trip to Xing."

"Well that was nice of you to help those brothers out. Or at least one of them."

Olivier's eyebrow arched at the word "nice". "Nice? No. I owe them for their help on the Promised Day. I'm simply settling the score."

"Right. You know, I can't help but wonder how Miss Rockbell is taking all of this."

"Not my problem."

Alex slowly shook his head. "I think I'll go to Resembool and check up on her."

"No you are not!" General Armstrong slammed her fists on her desk. "I'm the higher ranked officer. You obey _my_ commands. Ugh, why did His Excellency bring _you_ here when I asked for a physically strong solider's assistance. I'm sure there were plenty of more suitable candidates."

"Because I _am_ a physically strong solider, and I'm always willing to help out a woman in need!"

Oliver stood up and punched her brother in the face, sending him stumbling backwards despite his huge frame. "NEVER SAY THAT SECOND PART TO ME AGAIN!" she roared.

"I don't see why you needed my assistance anyway. We Armstrongs all possess great strength PASSED DOWN THE ARMSTRONG FAMILY LINE FOR GENERATIONS."

Olivier sat down in her chair and rubbed her temples. "Yes, yes, I'm aware. That's why we're called _Arm-strong_. Now can you tell me something I don't know!"

"That I'm going to Resembool."

"I knew that!" she snapped. "And you aren't going."

"See, that's what you don't know! That I am going no matter what you say or do." At that Alex gave a quick salute and marched out of his sister's office.

Oliver let the smallest sliver of a smile cross her lips before frowning menacingly. Her spineless, weak excuse for a brother just stood up to her. He even went as far as to walk out on her. The toughest of her men at Fort Briggs would never have dared to do such a thing to her.

Maybe he did possess some inner strength, after all.

* * *

><p>Pinako was awakened from her nap by forceful banging on her front door. She scowled. "If that's Edward..." she muttered angrily while marching up to the door. She swung the door opened and scowled. "Come and see the mess you have caused!" she hollered.<p>

She was greeted by a tall man who was literally sparkling with joy instead of a teenage boy. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I thought you were someone else, Major Armstrong. It's been so long! What brings you here?"

Armstrong smiled down upon the woman, sending sparkles of happiness everywhere. "Ah, Mrs. Pinako, it is lovely to see you again! I've actually been promoted so I am now Colonel Armstrong."

"Woah, you flew up those ranks pretty quick, huh?"

"We Armstrongs do that. It's been PASSED DOWN THE FAMILY LINE FOR GENERATIONS. My older sister is a Major General up north."

"Well, that's nice. What brings a highly ranked officer here? Are you looking for Edward and Alphonse? They ar-"

"The Elric brothers are currently traveling to Xing. Why, exactly, I do not know. I just thought I should tell you. However, that is not my reason for coming. I came here to see Miss Winry."

Pinako frowned. "I don't know... if you want to see her."

"I can assure you that I do."

"You know where her room is. You stayed there before. She should be in there. Please don't make her angry."

Armstrong tilted his head quizzically. "Why... why would I do that?"

Pinako sighed sadly. "Three days after the boys left... she changed. She's so depressed, and when she's gone, she's angry."

"'When she's gone?' What do you mean by that?"

Pinako could not answer.

* * *

><p>From his memory, the girl's room was dark, but not <em>this<em> dark. This bedroom was nearly pitch black even though it was nearly midday. The Colonel could see the faint silhouette of a lamp against the wall. He cautiously made is way over to the light source and-

_Crack_.

The sound of shattering glass filled his ears. He quickly turned on the lamp to see that he had stepped on a glass. Upon further inspection, it was revealed to be an empty bottle of alcohol. Appalled, the Colonel picked up his head and gasped. Bottles of alcohol were strewn all about the room ranging from lightweight beer to hardcore liquor. Now he realized what Pinako meant when she said Winry changed when she was "gone". When she was gone, she was in a drunken rage.

"Miss Rockbell?"

Winry was lying in a plank position face down on her bed. She was wearing tight black pants and a white hoodie that was very big on her. At the sound of Armstrong's voice, she picked up her head and glared at him. Her blonde hair was a matted mess and her eyes were so bloodshot there was no trace of white left in them. She dizzily sat up and stared at the Colonel.

"Major Armstrong," she said thickly. She was obviously suffering from a massive hangover. "What are you doing here?" She grabbed her head. "Ugh, headache." She reached for the open bottle of vodka on her nightstand.

Before she could drink, Armstrong took the bottle from her. He didn't even bother to correct her for using his previous rank. "Winry, this behavior has to stop."

She glared at him. "I'm eighteen. I can do whatever the fuck I want."

"Miss Rockbell, a young lady such as yourself should not be using language like that."

"Do I l_ook_ like a lady? I'm not. Maybe if I were, I'd be married by now!" She began to tear up.

The Colonel sat down on the bed next to the distraught girl. She quickly and angrily wiped at her face with her sleeve, causing her nose bridge to turn red. "Winry, you know he'll be back."

"He would have come back by now," she wailed. "It's been five days. He's gone and he's not coming back." Armstrong placed his arm around her, which she knocked off angrily. "I don't understand!" she screamed. "I've been there for him _all of his damn life_! And he does this! How can he! How... can he..." She buried her face in her hands and sobbed Winry.

"Miss Winry, you've known the Elric brothers all of their lives, right?"

She nodded.

"And they leave for long periods of time quite often?"

She nodded again.

"And they always come back?"

Slowly, she nodded for a third time.

The Major stood up. "You should have faith in those brothers. Deep down you know they will return. And if you plan on marrying Edward, you should be able to place the ultimate faith in him. As his future wife, you will be the one he turns to when all else fails. That is your duty. Will you be able to fulfill that?"

"If he comes back."

Colonel Armstrong grabbed Winry's arm and pulled her off of the bed into a standing position. "_When_ he comes back," he corrected. "Now go brush your hair, because I'm going to take you for a walk."

Winry nodded and made her way to the exit.

The Colonel spoke up again. "Winry?"

"Yes?"

"Promise me that you won't drink again until your wedding day. Alcohol is a foul substance that can take control if you aren't careful. I don't want a beautiful, bright woman like you to be captured by its poisonous allure."

"I'm sorry. I promise not a hint of alcohol will touch my lips until I've been wed. And I _will_ be married because Edward _will_ come back for me."

"That's the spirit!"

* * *

><p>"This is such a nice little village," remarked the Colonel as they walked down the path from the Rockbell home. "I was raised in a large mansion with four siblings. Even with the crowd, there was always so much room. Sometimes, smaller things are better. They're cozier."<p>

"I will admit, my house is very cozy. It would have been nice to have a sibling, though. I'm an only child. The closest things I have to siblings are the Elric brothers." She sniffed sadly.

"They'll be back. You know how hopelessly stubborn Edward is. He was probably scared of commitment and ran off like the impulsive moron he is."

Winry gave a nervous laugh. "Colonel... what should I say to him when he returns?" she asked slowly.

"Whatever you're thinking at the time. Don't hold back; just let him have it."

"What if I can't bring myself to say anything to him?"

Armstrong looked down at her, blue eyes to blue eyes. "Miss Rockbell, sometimes silence speaks louder than the harshest of words."


	11. East City: Riza

"Hawkeye!" yelled Ed. The woman snapped her eyes directly into Ed's and smiled.

"Edward! Alphonse!" She ran down the stairs and threw the boys into a hug. She held them close to her for a second and marveled at how much they had grown. Ed was roughly her height and Al was two or three inches taller. "The second the General told me you two had just left, I ran out to find you boys. I asked the secretary where you two went, but she wasn't much help."

"What a surprise," said Ed sarcastically.

"I know," said Riza thickly, "I don't like her either." She released the two boys and looked at each of them. "Has it really been three years?" She placed her hands on her hips. "Why haven't you written to me, Edward? Alphonse, thankfully, has been kind enough to update me on your well being since he is the only one with enough sense to write to everyone!"

Ed turned to his brother. "I didn't know you wrote to Hawkeye."

"I write to _all_ of the friends we made on our journey, Brother. I don't want to lose touch. And naturally, they ask me about you, since you never write or return letters!"

"Sounds you haven't changed a bit, Edward," remarked Riza.

"But you've changed a lot, Major Hawkeye," said Ed. "Your hair is short like when we were younger, and you're wearing glasses!"

Riza blinked. "Oh. No, these are just for reading. I still have my hawk eye vision, you know. I just wear these to _keep_ my vision that way. I guess I forgot to take them off." She took off her glasses and tucked them in her pocket. Now she looked just like the Hawkeye they remembered.

A small gust of wind blew through Riza's now short tresses, causing her to hug her military jacket closer to her. "It's a little chilly."

Al looked up. "Yeah, the clouds are coming in. I think it might rain."

Hawkeye smiled. "Why don't you two come to my apartment for some coffee? We can properly catch up there."

* * *

><p>When Riza flicked the lights on, Black Hayate ran up to her ad greeted her with a lick on her pants. He didn't spent much time with her, though, as he was too intrigued by the brothers. Al gasped excitedly when he saw Hayate and ran up to him and began to play with him.<p>

"Alphonse, this is my Shiba Inu, Black Hayate."

"He's so cute!" exclaimed Al in the toughest way a man could say such a thing.

"I'll start making the coffee while you two play with Hayate."

"I hope this doesn't end up like the last time we had coffee together," laughed Edward.

"What, where I assumed that you and Winry liked each other? I understand my assumption was correct. I understand you two are engaged to be married."

"Mustang filled you in?"

"Yes. Understand that we will be discussing this when the coffee is ready."

Ed grumbled. "Yes ma'am." He should have seen it coming... and yet, he didn't.

Alphonse placed his hand on Ed's shoulder. "It's Hawkeye. How harsh can she be?" he whispered.

"I'm not afraid of her. I'm afraid of what she'll reveal of my inner feelings. This woman can read people like books! She's even worse than Scar's wife."

Al laughed. "I still wish I could have been there for that."

"Tch. Good thing you weren't."

* * *

><p>"Edward, you act so strange sometimes," said Riza as she took a sip of her coffee. She looked up at him, anticipating a reaction. Her dull brown-red eyes scanned his bright ones, looking for any sort of information. "I thought you loved her."<p>

"Didn't the General explain everything to you? You should know the answer to that."

"You have to understand, Edward, that I only saw General Mustang for less than a minute after you left. He gave me the very basics of the scenario and sent me out to find you."

"Oh, so this is a military mission now? Great."

"It's always business with that man." Riza took another sip of her coffee.

"You make a good cup of coffee, Major," said Al nicely.

"Thank you. You know can drop the formalities, Al. Please call me Riza." She smiled.

"Riza," said Ed, not liking how strange the word felt, "I do love Winry. I'm just.. worried.. about the future." He chose his words carefully.

"I'd imagine that's normal. Marriage is a huge lifestyle change. You can't just jump into it and expect nothing to happen."

"I guess I just thought... since I've lived next to her all of my life... that it wouldn't be so different."

"That's not true. Once you marry her, you'll be sharing a lot of things with her. A house. A family. A _bed_."

Ed gulped. Unlike the case with most boys, the thought of intimacy didn't cross his mind often. He'd always been preoccupied with other thoughts. But now, he was thinking about it, and it was terrifying. "We already share all of those things." Hawkeye raised an eyebrow. "Except for the bed!" Al tried not to laugh at his brother's awkwardness.

"Still, you'll be closer than ever in every possible way: physically, mentally, emotionally, and legally." It's normal to be apprehensive about things like this. But, come on Edward. You're so brave. You've fought immortal monsters, evil dictators, and even attempted human transmutation. And now you're afraid to marry your next door neighbor and best friend. Does anything about that sound _messed up _to you?"

Ed scoffed. "If you're such an expert, why don't you go get married?"

"Please. Who could marry someone like me?" Riza chuckled nervously.

"You've got to be kidding, Major. You've got a commanding officer who totally has the hots for you."

Riza was the one scoffing this time. "That's not true. Roy is my best friend. It'd be illegal for us to be anything more."

"You know if it was legal you'd both be down for it."

Riza's face was set in stone. "Since when did this conversation become about me? It's supposed to be about you."

"Nice try, Ed," said Al softly, downing the rest of his coffee, which had cooled quickly due to the amount of milk Al put in it.

"Well," continued Hawkeye, "if you are so intent on discussing the relationship between Roy and I, then I will be equally intent on discussing the relationship between you and Winry. It's Equivalent Exchange, the code you brothers live by."

"_Used_ to live by," corrected Al.

"Right. Edward, do you love Winry?"

"U-um," Ed stammered, "you should know the ans-"

"Just answer me!" she snapped with a tone of authority.

"Yes. Yes, I love her."

"Would you do anything for her?"

"Yes. I'd die for her if I had to."

"Then why can't you marry her?"

Ed bit his lip, unable to answer. Not only did Hawkeye make _a_ great point, she made _multiple_ great points.

Hawkeye sighed. "You know, Edward, you are legally able to marry the one you love. You should seize that opportunity. Others are not as lucky as you."

Both of the brothers glanced at each other and looked at Hawkeye. He words were heavily coated with deeper meanings. He looked into her amber eyes; the dull sadness within them confirmed his deepest suspicions that some way, somehow, Riza cared for her superior officer more then she had previously let on.

Suddenly, the answers were clear. His marriage to Winry wasn't just between him and her. Others were involved; Alphonse, Pinako, Mei, Ling, Lan Fan, General Mustang, Hawkeye, and even the Armstrongs were all rooting for him. They were all hoping for the day they would marry.

And Edward had let them down because of his selfish decisions. He quickly stood up from his chair, letting his coffee cup fall to the ground and shatter. Al, out of confusion, said his brother's name.

"I'm going back," said Ed. And with that, he ran out of the apartment and slammed the door behind him.

Al and Riza looked at each with confusion. They nodded to each other and bent over to pick up the pieces of Ed's broken mug. All of this was done without saying a word. When they were done, the two friends sat back down on the table and continued drinking coffee like nothing occurred.

Finally, it clicked. "What just happened?" asked Riza, setting down her cup.

"Brother's _finally_ realized his mistake. It's about time, too. It's been almost a month!"

"Shouldn't you go after him, Alphonse?"

"I'll give him a head start."


	12. The Moment

He couldn't miss her from a mile away.

Edward was running from the Resembool station all the way to the Rockbell home - his home - when he saw the top of a bright blonde head standing in the Resembool graveyard. He ran up to her and ducked his head down, panting, desperate to regain his breath for the large amount of talking that was about to ensue. As Edward came up to finally meet the eyes of his lover, he realized that he was standing in front of his parents' joint grave.

_If my father can return to Mom, then I can return to Winry._

She stood staring at him with many emotions swimming in her eyes. Sadness. Love. Betrayal. Adoration. They flipped back and forth like a light switch.

"Winry."

"Edward."

Ed reached his arm out and grabbed Winry's left hand. She tensed at the touch, but did not pull away. He saw, with a thankful breath, that she was still wearing his engagement ring. He grabbed it and slowly slid it off, letting it fall to the ground. The wordless action spoke loudly to Winry; it was Edward's way of breaking up with her. The silver ring with the singular diamond fell slowly to ground, matched in timing with the tears falling from her eyes.

Winry let out a choked sob while the tears fell down her face faster. The flow of tears halted, however, when Edward pulled out another ring. This ring was silver was like the other, but the jewel in the center was an aquamarine twice the size of the previous diamond. The jewel was surrounded by smaller sapphires and diamonds in alternating order. Her mind took off in a sprint of thoughts wondering where Edward had gotten it and how much it cost him. (Little did she know, the ring was given to him by General Mustang and customized by Alphonse. She wouldn't find another like it anywhere.)

Winry was speechless, so Edward did the talking for her. "I figured you deserved better," he said.

Winry frowned as another tear fell. "Deserve better than you?"

Ed's face contorted to show pure pain. "...if that's what you want. If you want me to go, I will."

"No, Ed. What I want is to love you and for you to love me. I want us to be married."

"I can give you that," Ed whispered as he leaned in to kiss Winry. She pushed him away roughly.

"Edward... I can't believe you ran away. Do you know long it's been? A month. One... painfully long... month. How.. how _could_ you!"

"..I'm sorry. I've really messed up. But all the travelling I did in this month meant something. I've gotten a lot out of it and I am bringing it back to you. I ran away because I was scared, Winry. Yes, I'll admit it, I was scared. Scared I wouldn't make a good husband to you. And someday down the line, I'm afraid I won't be a good father to our kids. And I panicked. So I ran away. But while traveling with Al, I learned how to be a good husband to you. I'm confident now that I can take care of you and our future children to the best of my ability." Edward got down on one knee. "Winry, I love you and I want to marry you."

"You really are an idiot, Edward," she said as she grabbed his shoulders and lifted him up. Their lips met aggressively, eager to pick up on what the both of them have been missing out on for a month. When they broke apart, nearly breathless, Winry slapped him across the face. And hit him with her wrench. And then slapped him again.

"I guess I deserved all of that."

"You do, moron." She grasped his hand in hers.

* * *

><p>Instead of being impulsive and taking an expensive taxi like his brother, Al allowed Riza to drive him. She dropped him off at the Resembool station and they parted ways, with Al giving her proper thanks and promising her and her coworkers an invite to the wedding.<p>

He was walking down the path to the Rockbell home when her saw two blonde heads in the graveyard kissing. He smiled to himself. Images of the future filled his head, images of little Eds and Winrys running around. His future nieces and nephews. "_Oh, goodness_," he whispered.

He, unlike his brother, continued up the path and entered the Rockbell home. He nearly gave Pinako a heart attack in the process and was hit in the head with a frying pan.

"Ow," exclaimed Al, rubbing his head. "I thought throwing metal objects around is Winry's job."

"I'm worry, Al," said Pinako. Then she realized who was talking to. "Al! What's going on!"

Al smiled. "Hello, Granny. Everything is fine. Edward and Winry are in the graveyard talking. Well, _actually_, they weren't doing much talking when I passed them.. _if you know what I mean_."

Pinako sighed and sat down. "Good to hear. Winry was so depressed until Colonel Armstrong came here and talked to her. It was strange. She perked up so suddenly. I guess that's Winry and her mood swings for you. I assume it had something to do with the alco-" Pinako abruptly stopped talking.

"_What_?" asked Al. "Did you say alcohol?"

"No. But you did. Have you been drinking, Al?

"Uh, no, but you said.. wait. You said the Colonel came here?"

"Yes. He said you and your brother had just left for Xing."

"Oh." Al rubbed the back of his neck. "Brother and I traveled a lot while we were gone. We caught up with a lot of the people we met on our journey. They were all very kind and hospitable to us and gave Ed advice for his impending marriage."

"That's lovely. You boys make lasting impressions n the people you meet." She then folded her arms. "Still, your brother had no right to run off like that without telling Winry. What kind of man leaves his bride at the altar?"

Al laughed. "That's Brother for you. Don't worry, you can yell at your future grandson-in-law when he gets home."

* * *

><p>Everyone was in high spirits as a crowd of people gathered on the plot of land between the Rockbell's automail shop and the Resembool River. Despite delaying his wedding by a month, Edward wanted the ceremony held as soon as possible after he returned to Resembool. This provoked many lectures and arguments between him and Pinako, who would have yelled Ed all the way to his grave hadn't Al intervened. And so, the wedding was planned in a short period of time. There were many new guests to be accommodated for, so the wedding was planned two weeks after Ed's and Al's return instead of two days like Ed had wanted. He was impatient and angsty, but for Winry, he could wait a lifetime.<p>

And now, finally, the day everyone had waited for had arrived. Winry was inside, being attended to by her whoever's job that was. Ed assumed it was Granny Pinako. He had no idea how these "weddings" worked; he'd never been to one in his life. Instead, Ed stood in the bank of the river, waiting to be summoned.

As expected, the first person to find Ed was Al. "Brother?" called Al. He saw his brother, gave a sigh of happiness, and went over to greet him. "Thank goodness. I thought you left again."

"No, Al," said Ed in a condescending tone. "I won't leave."

Al laughed. "Good, because Teacher is here and she told that me that if we don't celebrate your wedding today, we'll celebrate your funeral instead. Also, Hawkeye are here, and I'm pretty sure she has a gun hidden somewhere in her dress."

Ed turned to face the river. "Who else is here?"

"Teacher and Sig, obviously. Hawkeye, Mustang," Al heard Ed grumble, "and I think Fuery is somewhere. Havoc and Breda might be coming for the reception. Colonel Armstrong is here. Ling, Lan Fan, and Mei arrived from Xing this morning. They're here."

Ed turned towards his younger brother and raised an eyebrow at him. "_Mei_ is here?"

"Well, obviously! You invited her and-" Al got what his brother was suggesting. "Come on, Ed. This is _your_ wedding."

"I imagine we'll be switching places soon, hm?" Al pushed Ed, who almost fell into the river.

"Hey, watch it!" Ed snapped. "This suit cost a fortune just to borrow!"

"Sorry," mumbled Al. "Maybe we should walk back. The ceremony is going to start soon." Ed turned to walk away, but stopped upon hearing Alphonse cry out "wait!"

"What is this time, Alphonse?" he asked, annoyance clear in his voice.

"Scar's wife sent us a letter. I almost forgot to give it to you. The end is.. uh... surprising." Ed took the letter and opened it.

_Dear Elric brothers,_

_This letter had two purposes. The first one is to congratulate you on your upcoming wedding, Edward. I'm glad your senses returned to you._

Edward huffed.

_The second thing is to inform you that I gave birth three days after you left Ishval. I had two healthy twin boys. They're so young, but I can already tell they'll be an energetic bunch. I'm sure my husband is excited. Don't let him know I told you this, but he has a soft spot for young children and cats._

_Since Scar named our first son, he told me that I could name our second child. He didn't count on me having twins, though! I was able to name both of my children. What a loophole, huh?_

The letter ended there. "Um, is there more?" asked Ed unsurely. Al dug in his pockets, gasped, and pulled out a photograph.

"Oh yeah, this came with it," he said. Ed took the grayscale picture and observed it. Two babies, with dark skin and light hair were lying next to each other in a crib of colorful cloth. The baby to the right had its eyes closed in a peaceful nap while the other had its bright eyes fixed on its brother protectively. It was kind of cute, Ed admitted internally.

He flipped the photo and read the caption. "_The one on the left is named Edward and the one sleeping is named Alphonse_." Ed groaned. "She named her babies after _us_? That's _so_ creepy!"

"Really?" asked Al. "I found it flattering. I guess she really liked our names. I wonder how Scar felt about it."

"Considering he is a traditionalist, he was probably pissed his Ishvalan babies were given Amestrian names."

"Ed, can you _ever_ think about the positives? Especially on your _wedding day_?"

"Nope," said Ed with a smile as he linked his arm around Al's shoulder. "Never."

* * *

><p>To any passer-by, the gathering in the field was just another country wedding. But to everyone <em>at<em> the wedding, it was the day they all knew was going to happen. It was the stubborn alchemy freak and the uptight gear head _finally_ got married.

Thus, nearly everyone that the Elric brothers (or AI, since Ed never wrote letters) considered their friend was there for the occasion. It was almost mind-blowing how _different_ everyone looked!

For starters, the royal Xing clan was there, and their outfits alone outdid nearly everyone there. Somehow Ling managed to bypass the whole "royal procession" tradition and brought only a handful of guards. All of them were in hiding with the exception of Lan Fan, who was an invited guest. Ling was wearing his emperor robes which consisted of shades of deep red and violet. His long, jet black hair was worn down and paired with a white head cloth on which an ornate crown was placed. He kept adjusting said headpiece and frowning.

"My Lord, you must not fool with that crown. I know you hate it, but you must wear it to show your position as emperor," his loyal bodyguard Lan Fan whispered harshly. She was unrecognizable to everyone who had never seen her with her mask off, and was unfamiliar to even those who _had_ seen her unmasked. She was wearing a Xingese qipao that was traditionally worn to weddings. However, the girl had alterations in order to be able to fulfill her bodyguard duties. The garment was cut off at the knee with white pants worn underneath in case she had jump into action to protect the emperor. Her hair was in its customary bun, accented by a white flower. Lan Fan also made it a point to pin back her unruly bangs. She looked nice.

Princess Mei was there was well, giggling at the emperor's antics. Unlike Lan Fan, her red qipao was completely traditional. Her long hair was worn in her usual braids, but they were styled in six tiny loops, three on each side to made two large loops. Both of the large loops were accompanied with red flowers that matched her dress. A small panda bear sat on her shoulder, wearing a red bow tie and mirroring the royal girl's expression. One thing very different about Mei was that she was wearing makeup; her lips were dark red and her eyes were darker than normal. It was elegant, to say the least.

Izumi and Sig Curtis, the Elrics' mentors, were there as well. Their outfits were simple, as could be expected. Mrs. Curtis wore a modest black dress while her husband wore a basic suit. Nothing fancy.

And, of course, General Mustang and a few of his subordinates showed up as well. Fuery and the General himself were there, hair slicked back and suits nice and sharp. Riza was there, in a tight dark blue dress that looked strangely _sexy_ on her. Mustang couldn't keep his eyes off of her.

Various others were there such as Colonel Armstrong, the Hughes family, Rose, the chimeras, and various other people the brothers had encountered on their journey were her to congratulate Edward and Winry.

Ed was insanely nervous that he was about to make such emotional and permanent vows in front of such a large group. He wanted to kill Al for inviting so many people.

Suddenly, music began to play. Voices became scare, and everyone stood up. Edward didn't have to look around; he could _feel_ Winry's presence. He looked towards the house and saw a sight that made him catch his breath.

Winry was slowly walking down the aisle dressed in the exact same outfit Edward dreamt she wore when he had the nightmare in Ishval. If he believed in a god, he would have prayed that this was not a dream, and if it was, that it would never turn bad and he would never wake up. But, he was Edward Elric, to whom the concept of god is illogical, so he just watched his bride walk to him.

Any negative feelings he ever felt, _ever_, left him as he watched Winry walk to him. His surroundings faded away and to him, she was the only person in the room with him.

It didn't matter who was watching their vows. Nothing mattered, as long as he got the fulfillment of being with Winry.

As she took her final steps towards him, Edward realized that Winry was his saving grace. Sure, it was Al that kept Edward's body alive during those dark days by giving him the incentive to keep on living, but it was Winry who kept his spirits alive. She breathed life into his dead soul and made him feel as if every step he took was worthwhile.

He knew he could never, ever regret marrying her.

He said his vows, putting his heart, soul, and what parts of his body the Truth did not have into his words. Winry did the same, and the two become one.


	13. Family

Lately, everything had been quiet is Resembool. That is, until Granny Pinako passed on and Edward and Winry decided to move the automail business back to their hometown. Now things were as hectic as ever.

Edward and Winry had been married for almost three years now, and even though they had many rough patches, they were an overall happy couple. They already had two children together: Antoine, a boy, who was a roughly a year and a half in age; and Sara, a girl, who was about six months old. Edward named his son Antoine after ones of the fathers of Chemistry, for reasons Winry did not understand nor want to understand. As for the daughter, Winry named her after her own beloved mother.

Though he did not readily live with them, Alphonse was also a part of their family. He had been spending more time in Xing than at home in Resembool. Of course, being Al, he'd never neglect his family and made sure to visit them once a month.

Ed usually predicted when his younger brother would be arriving since Al tended to be schedule oriented. But today, he was wrong…

"Uncle Al here!" shouted Antoine, his childish voice ringing through the house. He took it upon himself to run out of the house (which he was not allowed to do) and greet his uncle. He was lucky Al was there, because the stairs in front of the Rockbell home were kind of steep and being so young, Antoine did not yet know how to climb them. As a result he ended up tripping and falling, only to be caught by Al.

"Well, _someone_ is excited," said Al to his nephew.

Winry came running out few seconds later, screaming her head off. "Antoine you get in this house right now before I-" her voice lowered when she saw her brother-in-law- "why hello Al!"

Alphonse lifted his nephew up and offered him to his mother. "I think this belongs to you."

Little Antoine kicked and squirmed in Al's arms. "Don't gimme to her! She evvvvviiiilllllll!"

"He is just like his father," Winry remarked before taking her son, "such a handful."

"Evil! Evil! Evil! Evil!" shouted Antoine repeatedly. His screams escalated, eventually causing his little sister to wake up.

Winry groaned. "This is _not_ my morning. I'm sorry, Al, but can you bring him inside? I need to go calm Sara down."

Al took the screaming child back. "Where's Brother? Shouldn't he be helping you?" Al asked, his tone critical.

"He _is_ helping me. He's grocery shopping at the moment. We didn't know you'd be coming in today. You're kind of.. off schedule, you know?"

"I know. I came earlier than usual because I have news to share."

Winry's eyebrows arched. "Let me guess.. it'll have to wait until Ed gets back?"

"Yep."

Winry groaned. "I hate waiting."

* * *

><p>"Hey! I'm back!" shouted Ed, who walked inside carrying many bags of food.<p>

"Dadddddyyyy!" screamed Antoine, who immediately latched onto his father's legs.

"Oh, hey, champ." He stumbled back a bit. "Do you mind helping me carry some of this to the kitchen?"

"No," said the boy. He turned and began to walk away.

Ed decided to take a different approach. "You had better come and help me right now!" Ed shouted at him. "Otherwise I'll punish you _severely_!"

"You make Uncle Al leave!" cried the youngster.

Ed mumbled. His own kids liked Al more than their own father. "Yes, I'll kick him out." Then it hit him. "Wait... Al is here?"

Just then, Winry walked out and grabbed Antoine into her arms. "Yes, Al is here. He's playing with Sara right now."

"Wow. Weird," said Edward. He set the food down in the kitchen and made his way to the nursery while Winry followed with Antoine (who was being oddly quiet) restrained in her arms.

Al was hovering over Sara's crib, tickling her. The baby girl was giggling like crazy. Winry thought it was the cutest thing ever while Ed was annoyed that his brother was better with his owns kids than he ever could be. "Hey, Al. I wasn't expecting you here today."

Al looked up and smiled. "Hey Brother. I kind of dropped by early; I don't plan on staying long. I just have some news to share."

Ed arched his eyebrows, "How big is this news?"

"Let's all go sit in the living room, and we'll talk."

Edward and Winry looked at each other and nodded. "It's pretty big," they agreed aloud.

"Am I that predictable?" Al asked, pouting,

"Yes," they both said again.

* * *

><p>"Let me guess. You are planning on proposing to Mei?" Ed guessed.<p>

"No. This has nothing to do with Mei, actually."

"Oh,.. well.. did you-"

"Stop guessing, Ed, and let your brother talk," Winry chided as she held little Sara in her arms. Antoine was sitting next to her, fiddling with his shirt.

Al looked at the both of them before pulling an item out of his pocket. "This is what I want to tell you." He tossed the the item to Ed. Ed looked at the item, a pocket watch, and realized what it was. It was the official pocket watch of the State Alchemists. "Do you know what this means?"

"Al... you did not," was what Ed said.

"Clearly, I did."

Ed clenched the watch in his hand. "Damn it, Al!"

Winry hit Ed's arm. "Not in front of the kids!" she whispered harshly.

Ed started at Al as he spoke to his wife. "Winry, can Al and I speak in private? I'll fill you in later. Get the kids out." Winry nodded and left with Sara in her arms and Antoine at her tail. When she was gone, his eyes narrowed at Al. "Why would you go bsck? Have you forgotten the _hell_ we went through?"

"Brother, things have changed. Bradley is not the Fuhrer. Mustang is. He's way more flexible."

"That doesn't make me feel any better! Do you know how dangerous this is!"

"Look at the watch again, Ed. It looks different from yours. The dragon is facing the opposite direction. That means I'm a _restricted_ State Alchemist."

Ed didn't say anything.

"It's a new thing Fuhrer Mustang came up with. It was inspired by you, you know."

"I don't give a damn! Why would you do this without asking me first?"

Al folded his arms defiantly. "I don't think I need your _permission _to do things, Edward.

That stung; Edward was shocked Al would say that to him. "You know I didn't mean it like that."

"Okay. Just open the pocket watch, and then maybe you won't be so mad." Ed opened the watch and looked inside. On the inner lid, the same place where he had engraved his own words years ago, now read "Restricted: medical use only".

"You can only use alchemy for medical reasons?"

"Yep. Mustang tried to push me to become a full State Alchemist, but I refused. I don't want to hurt people; I want to help them. Thanks to Mei and her alkahestry lessons, I passed the medical alchemy exam. I'm now a military doctor."

Ed folded his arms. "But Winry's parents.."

"Yes, I know. Don't worry, I can defend myself."

Al made a pretty good point. Ed raised his hands in defeat. "I guess I can't be mad at you. You fully chose this. If this is what you want, I won't stop you. Just be careful, okay? You just gave up your civilian status."

Al smiled. "Thank you for understanding."

"Hey, you helped me find my place here with Winry and the kids. And now that you are finding your own path, I won't interfere."

"No month-long journey required here," said Al with a grin.

Ed frowned. "You'll never let me live that down, will you?

"Nope."

Never.

_The end._


End file.
